Abstract
The drug l-Diethylcarbamyl-4-methylpi-perazine Hydrochloride (Hetrazan), when administered orally, causes the rapid disappearance of the microfilariae of Wuchereria bancrojti from the blood of infected individuals. 1 The marked effect of this drug on the circulating forms of W. bancrojti suggested its use in other parasitic infections in which treatment should be directed against such migrating forms. In view of the need for a drug in trichinosis which would destroy the migrating larvae as well as the intestinal forms, Hetrazan was tested on white rats infected with Trkhinella spiralis. The effect of this drug on the intestinal trichinae is reported below.
Methods and Results. White rats weighing from 150 to 175 g were fed by stomach tube with 1,000 to 1,300 infective trichinae larvae. The larvae were obtained from rat muscle digested in a pepsin-hydrochloric acid mixture. Twenty-four hours after feeding the animals were started on Hetrazan. The drug was given on the basis of 200 mg per kg weight 3 times daily by stomach tube, for periods of 5 to 10 days. For the recovery of adult trichinae the treated animals and suitable controls were killed 24 hours after the last dose of the drug was administered. The small and large intestine were removed, slit open and cut into small pieces about 1 cm long. The sliced intestine was put in a Baermann apparatus with normal salt solution heated to 37°C. The adult worms settled rapidly to the tip of the funnel and were removed one hour after the apparatus was set up. The number of worms recovered from the intestines was determined directly by counting.
For the recovery of the muscle stages the rats were killed on or about the 30th day after feeding infective larvae. The rat muscles were ground and digested in a pepsinhydrochloric acid mixture. The larvae were recovered from the mixture and their number estimated by counting aliquot portions of the total suspension.
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