Effect of albendazole in experimental toxocariasis of mice

Abstract

Fifty-five mice were each infected with 800 embryonated eggs of Toxocara cards. Beginning on the second day of the infection, one group received a single 9 mg dose of albendazole every 24 hours for an eight-day period while a second group received 3 mg of albendazole every eight hours for the same period. On the tenth day of infection, mice in each treatment group and their corresponding controls were sacrificed, and the presence and motility of T. canis larvae in the brain were determined.

With both therapeutical procedures the administration of albendazole reduced the number of larvae which reach the brain. However, for the same total dose, the administration of the drug every eight hours yielded results which were significantly superior to those produced by administering a single dose every 24 hours, reducing both the number of larvae in the brain and their motility.