Ivermectin for Treating Animal Parasites

Details:

Ivermectin is white or slightly yellow crystalline powder, soluble in methanol, esters and aromatic hydrocarbons, insoluble in water.

Ivermectin, as antibiotics, nematodes, insects and mites are killed drive activity, made with ivermectin injections, tablets for the treatment of gastrointestinal nematodes of livestock, leather maggots, maggots grain leather, sheep nasal bot and pigs, sheep scabies.In addition, ivermectin can be used for the treatment of poultry parasitic nematodes (such as roundworms, lung nematodes, etc.).Can also be made agricultural insecticide, miticide, widely used to kill parasitic mites on plants, diamondback moth, cabbage worm, leafminers, psylla, nematodes and the like.

Veterinary use
Ivermectin is also used in veterinary medicine.It is sometimes administered in combination with other medications to treat a broad spectrum of animal parasites.Some dog breeds (especially the Rough Collie, the Smooth Collie, the Shetland Sheepdog, and the Australian Shepherd), though, have a high incidence of a certain mutation within the MDR1 gene (coding for P-glycoprotein);Affected animals are particularly sensitive to the toxic effects of ivermectin.

Ivermectin is sometimes used as an acaricide in reptiles, both by injection and as a diluted spray.While this works well in some cases, care must be taken, as several species of reptiles are very sensitive to ivermectin.Use in turtles is particularly contraindicated.

It is mainly used in humans in the treatment of onchocerciasis (river blindness), but is also effective against other worm infestations (such as strongyloidiasis, ascariasis, trichuriasis, filariasis and enterobiasis), and some epidermal parasitic skin diseases, including scabies.
Ivermectin, under the brand name Mectizan, is currently being used to help eliminate river blindness (onchocerciasis) in the Americas, and to stop transmission of lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis around the world.Currently, large amounts of ivermectin are donated by Merck to fight river blindness in countries unable to afford the drug.The disease is endemic in 30 African countries, six Latin American countries, and Yemen, according to studies conducted by the World Health Organization.The drug rapidly kills microfilariae, but not the adult worms.A single oral dose of ivermectin, taken annually for the 10- to 15-year lifespan of the adult worms, is all that is needed to protect the individual from onchocerciasis.

Arthropod
More recent evidence supports its use against parasitic arthropods and insects:
Mites such as scabies:
It is usually limited to cases that prove to be resistant to topical treatments or that present in an advanced state (such as Norwegian scabies).Lice:Ivermectin lotion (0.5%) is FDA-approved for patients six months of age and older.After a single, 10-minute application of this formulation on dry hair, 78% of subjects were found to be free of lice after two weeks.This level of effectiveness is equivalent to other pediculicide treatments requiring two applications.
Bed bugs:Early research shows that the drug kills bed bugs when taken by humans at normal doses.The drug enters the human bloodstream and if the bedbugs bite during that time, they will die in a few days.
For dogs, the insecticide spinosad may have the effect of increasing the potency of ivermectin.

Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Ivermectin and other avermectins (insecticides most frequently used in home-use ant baits) are macrocyclic lactones derived from the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis.Ivermectin kills by interfering with nervous system and muscle function, in particular by enhancing inhibitory neurotransmission.
The drug binds and activates glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCls).GluCls are invertebrate-specific members of the Cys-loop family of ligand-gated ion channels present in neurons and myocytes.