Albendazole resistance in Fasciola hepatica: in vitro diagnostic and P-glycoprotein gene expression.

ALVAREZ, L; BALLENT, M; LANUSSE, C; MATÉ, L; SANABRIA, R; CEBALLOS, L; MORENO, L

Mer del Plata

Congreso; Congreso SAIC-SAI-SAFE 2016; 2016

SAIC-SAI-SAFE

The main goals of the current work were to confirm the albendazole (ABZ) resistance status of a Fasciola hepatica isolate by the egg hatch (EHT) and the controlled test, and to compare the gene expression profiles of the efflux transporter, P-glycoprotein (P-gp), in the same specimens of F. hepatica recovered from ABZ treated or untreated animals. Metacercariae of a F. hepatica isolated previously classified as ABZ-resistant by the EHT were used to artificially infect eight (8) healthy sheep. Sixteen (16) weeks after infection, animals were randomly distributed either in an untreated control or in an ABZ-treated (7.5 mg/kg) group. The flukicidal efficacy of ABZ was assessed by the comparison of the number of flukes recovered from untreated and treated sheep at 7 days post-treatment. Additionally, adults F. hepatica specimens from both experimental groups were used to determine the P-gp gene expression profiles by real-time PCR, using GAPDH as a reference gene. No statistical differences were observed in the number of adult liver flukes between untreated (18.5 ± 3.6) and ABZ-treated group (18.2 ± 8.5, P