[Helminth nervous system as a field for anthelmintic action]

In the review the results of the recent investigations and new ideas about the mode of action of neurotoxic anthelmintics are presented and discussed. Investigations of this group of drugs are very difficult, because our knowledge about neural system in helminths is still insufficient. However, some new perspectives have appeared recently. They concern such future targets of the drugs as acetylcholine transferase in filariae, a binding-site for ivermectin in Ascaris sp. or neuropeptides in nervous or neuromuscular system in Ascaris sp. The application of recombinant DNA techniques for cloning of parasite receptors, ion channels and protein involved in signal-transduction can be expected to lead to rapid progress in this field.