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Published on: January 14, 2018
Efficacy of albendazole against Anisakis simplex larvae in vitro
J Arias-Diaz1, J Zuloaga, E Vara
1Department of Surgery, Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain. javardi@wanadoo.es
Background:
The growing popularity in western countries of eating uncooked seafood has resulted in an increased incidence of anisakidosis.
Aim:
To study the in vitro activity of different concentrations of albendazole against Anisakis simplex larvae under different media pH.
Methods:
A. simplex larvae were obtained from fresh hakes acquired from the fish market of Madrid. They were divided into groups and placed in culture dishes (15 larvae each) containing RPMI-1640, in the presence or absence of different concentrations of albendazole (300, 400 and 500 microg/mL).
Results:
Albendazole dose-dependently reduced the survival of the larvae, its maximum activity being at 500 microg/mL when it killed almost all larvae at 48 h. Acidic medium pH significantly reduced the efficacy of albendazole.
Conclusion:
Albendazole is effective in killing A. simplex larvae at different pH in vitro, suggesting that this molecule could be useful in treating clinical manifestations of human anisakidosis.
