Dose determination studies for monepantel, an amino-acetonitrile derivative, against fourth stage gastro-intestinal nematode larvae infecting sheep

Monepantel is the first compound from the recently discovered amino-acetonitrile derivative (AAD) class of anthelmintics to be developed for use in sheep. Three dose determination studies were conducted in Australia and Switzerland to identify the minimum therapeutic dose of monepantel when formulated for the oral treatment of sheep to control fourth stage (L4) gastro-intestinal nematode larvae. In each study, sheep infected with the target nematodes (selected from Haemonchus contortus, Teladorsagia (Ostertagia) circumcincta, Teladorsagia trifurcata, Trichostrongylus axei, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Trichostrongylus vitrinus, Cooperia curticei, Cooperia oncophora, Nematodirus battus, Nematodirus filicollis, Nematodirus spathiger, Chabertia ovina and Oesophagostomum venulosum) were treated with either 1.25, 2.5 or 5.0mg monepantel/kg liveweight. Following euthanasia and worm counting, efficacy was calculated against worm counts from untreated control groups. Monepantel proved highly effective at 2.5 and 5.0mg/kg, but was only moderately effective against some nematode species (L4 stage) at 1.25mg/kg. The results also confirmed that monepantel will effectively control L4 stages of nematodes resistant to at least some of the currently available broad-spectrum anthelmintic classes (macrocyclic lactone resistant strains were not included in the studies). It was concluded that 2.5mg/kg would be a suitable minimum dose rate for a commercial product. No adverse events related to treatment with monepantel were detected.