In silico fasciolicide activity of three experimental compounds in sheep.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the fasciolicide activity of three experimental drugs, selected by an in silico system called TOMOCOMD-CARDD, in sheep. Drugs were identified by the computer system, and, after statistical selection, 24 Pelibuey sheep were infected on days 0 and 30, each with 200 metacercariae of Fasciola hepatica. When the infection reached 8 and 4 weeks of age, respectively, four groups of six animals each were formed. Group 1 received thiacetazone 150 mg/animal/p.o. Group 2 was treated with 3,5,5, trimethyloxazolidine 2,4-dione at 450 mg/animal/p.o. G3 received guanabenz acetate at a dose of 1.5 mg/animal/p.o. G4 served as an untreated control. Monitoring of the animals was followed by individual coprological examinations and slaughter of the animals 15 days after treatment to collect and count flukes from the liver. Efficacy was measured as the reduction in the percentage of flukes of treated animals relative to untreated controls. Results indicated an efficacy of 80.0, 43.8, and 100% for 8-week-old flukes and 62.1, 57.9, and 100% for 4-week-old flukes in the three experimental groups, respectively. Even though guanabenz acetate showed a high efficacy, it was highly toxic since two animals died approximately 24 h after being treated. We conclude that further investigations should be conducted to perform computer-aided prediction of drugs aimed to detect fasciolicide activity.