Publications by authors named "C E Fricks"
Article Synopsis
- The veterinary heartworm prevention market is worth billions and is increasingly focusing on alternative drug testing due to drug resistance in dogs and cats.
- New research shows that specific genetically modified mice (like SCID and RAG2 γc) can be used for heartworm drug screening, reducing reliance on companion animals for testing.
- The study compares different mouse strains and treatments, revealing promising results with oxfendazole and suggesting that these mice models could aid both academia and industry in developing more effective heartworm treatments.
Background: The American Heartworm Society canine guidelines recommend treatment with doxycycline prior to adulticide administration to reduce levels of Wolbachia and its associated metabolites, which are known to be a leading cause of pulmonary pathology. Studies have determined that doxycycline administered at 10 mg/kg BID for 28 days is an effective dose for eliminating Wolbachia, but what has not been determined is the clinical relevance of this elimination. The current guidelines also recommend a 30-day wait period following administration of doxycycline to allow for clearance of metabolites, such as Wolbachia surface protein, and for further reduction in heartworm biomass before administration of adulticide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Dirofilariasis, including heartworm disease, is a major emergent veterinary parasitic infection and a human zoonosis. Currently, experimental infections of cats and dogs are used in veterinary heartworm preclinical drug research.
Methods: As a refined alternative heartworm preventative drug screen, we assessed lymphopenic mouse strains with ablation of the interleukin-2/7 common gamma chain (γc) as susceptible to the larval development phase of .
Background: This study was conducted to determine whether heartworm infective larvae (L) collected from mosquitoes fed on dogs during low-dose, short-treatment-regimen doxycycline and ivermectin could develop normally in dogs.
Methods: Twelve Beagles in a separate study were infected with 10 pairs of adult male and female Dirofilaria immitis by IV transplantation and randomly allocated to three groups of four dogs. Starting on Day 0, Group 1 received doxycycline orally at 10 mg/kg sid for 30 days plus ivermectin (min.
Background: Microfilarial (mf) counts were monitored over 21.3 months for any rebound that might occur in counts, and adulticidal efficacy was assessed following administration of low dosage with short- and long-treatment regimens of doxycycline and ivermectin to heartworm-microfilaremic dogs.
Methods: Twelve heartworm-naïve beagles infected with 10 pairs of adult Dirofilaria immitis by intravenous transplantation were randomly allocated to three groups of four dogs.