Anthelmintic activity of paraherquamide in calves

Paraherquamide, an oxindole alkaloid metabolite of Penicillium paraherquei and Penicillium charlesii, was tested against the adult stages of nine common gastrointestinal and lung nematodes of calves at single, oral dosages of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 or 4.0 mg kg-1. At dosages 1.0-4.0 mg kg-1 there was 95% or more removal of Haemonchus placei, Ostertagia ostertagi, Trichostrongylus axei, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Cooperia oncophora, Nematodirus helvetianus, Oesophagostomum radiatum, and Dictyocaulus viviparus. Cooperia punctata, the dosage-limiting species, was virtually unaffected by any dosage except the highest, which produced an efficacy of 89%. The 0.5 mg kg-1 dosage was 95% or more efficacious against H. placei, O. ostertagi, C. oncophora, and D. viviparus, but weaknesses were evident against the other five species. No adverse reaction was observe in any calf.