Efficacy of albendazole:β-cyclodextrin citrate in the parenteral stage of Trichinella spiralis infection

Albendazole–β-cyclodextrin citrate (ABZ:C-β-CD) inclusion complex in vivo antiparasitic activity was evaluated in the parenteral phase of Trichinella spiralis infection in mice. An equimolar complex of ABZ:C-β-CD was prepared by spray-drying and tested in CBi–IGE male mice orally infected with L1 infective larvae. Infected animals were treated with 50 or 30 mg/kg albendazole, (ABZ) equivalent amounts of the ABZ:C-β-CD complex and non treated (controls). Mice received a daily dose on days 28, 29 and 30 post-infection. A week later, larval burden and percentage of encysted dead larvae were assessed in the host by counting viable and non-viable larvae in the tongue. Complexation of ABZ with C-β-CD increased the drug dissolution efficiency nearly eightfold. At 37 days p-i, the reduction percentage in muscle larval load was 35% in mice treated with 50 mg/kg/day ABZ and 68% in those given the complex. Treatment with the lower dose showed a similar decrease in parasite burden. Treated animals showed a high percentage of nonviable larvae, the proportion being significantly higher in mice receiving the complex than in control animals (72–88% vs. 11%, P = 0.0032). These data indicate that ABZ:C-β-CD increases bioavailability and effectiveness of ABZ against encapsulated Trichinella larvae, thus allowing the use of small doses.