The effect of administration of fenbendazole on the microbial hindgut population of the horse.
Abstract: Anthelmintics are used as anti-worming agents. Although known to affect their target organisms, nothing has been published regarding their effect on other digestive tract organisms or on metabolites produced by them. The current work investigated effects of fenbendazole, a benzimidazole anthelmintic, on bacteria and ciliates in the equine digestive tract and on and their major metabolites. Animals receiving anthelmintic treatment had high faecal egg counts relative to controls. Analysis was performed over two weeks, with temporal differences detected in bacterial populations but with no other significant differences detected. This suggests fenbendazole has no detectable effect on organisms other than its targets. Moreover it does not appear to make a contribution to changing the resulting metabolome.
Publication Date: 2018-07-06 PubMed ID: 29991923PubMed Central: PMC6033616DOI: 10.1294/jes.29.47Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research article examines the impact of fenbendazole, a drug commonly used to treat worm infections in horses, on other organisms in the horse’s digestive tract and the substances they produce. The findings indicate that this drug does not noticeably affect other organisms in the digestive tract or the metabolites they produce, suggesting it is specifically effective against its target worms.
Research Objective
- The main objective of this research was to explore if fenbendazole, an anti-worming medication, not only affects its target organisms (worms in the horse’s digestive tract) but also has any impact on other digestive tract organisms or the metabolites produced by them.
Research Method
- The study was carried out on horses who have been treated with fenbendazole.
- The researchers compared the treated horses with a control group and assessed their fecal egg counts, a measure to determine the presence and severity of a worm infection.
- The assessment was performed over a period of two weeks, during which the researchers tracked changes in bacterial populations in the horses’ digestive tracts.
Key Findings
- The study found that there were temporal differences in the populations of bacteria in the horse’s digestive tract, but no other significant differences were detected.
- This means that the administration of fenbendazole does not have a detectable impact on non-target organisms in the horse’s digestive tract.
- Fenbendazole also does not seem to alter the resulting metabolome, i.e., the collection of metabolic products produced by the organisms in the digestive tract.
Conclusions
- These findings suggest that fenbendazole, a commonly used anti-worming medication, is targeted specifically against its intended worms and does not unfavorably affect other organisms in the horse’s digestive tract.
- Crucially, it does not seem to influence the metabolites these organisms produce, implying that the metabolic environment in the digestive tract remains stable despite treatment with the drug.
Cite This Article
APA
Crotch-Harvey L, Thomas LA, Worgan HJ, Douglas JL, Gilby DE, McEwan NR.
(2018).
The effect of administration of fenbendazole on the microbial hindgut population of the horse.
J Equine Sci, 29(2), 47-51.
https://doi.org/10.1294/jes.29.47 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Edward Llwyd Building, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth University, SY23 3DA, Wales, U.K.
- Equine, Pets and Livestock Animalcare, Glien House, Glien Road, Cillefwr Industrial Estate, SA31 3RB, Wales, U.K.
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Edward Llwyd Building, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth University, SY23 3DA, Wales, U.K.
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Edward Llwyd Building, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth University, SY23 3DA, Wales, U.K.
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Edward Llwyd Building, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth University, SY23 3DA, Wales, U.K.
- Equine, Pets and Livestock Animalcare, Glien House, Glien Road, Cillefwr Industrial Estate, SA31 3RB, Wales, U.K.
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Edward Llwyd Building, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth University, SY23 3DA, Wales, U.K.
- School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Robert Gordon University, AB10 7GJ, Scotland, U.K.
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Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Sultana T, Jan U, Lee H, Lee H, Lee JI. Exceptional Repositioning of Dog Dewormer: Fenbendazole Fever.. Curr Issues Mol Biol 2022 Oct 17;44(10):4977-4986.
- Hu D, Yang J, Qi Y, Li B, Li K, Mok KM. Metagenomic Analysis of Fecal Archaea, Bacteria, Eukaryota, and Virus in Przewalski's Horses Following Anthelmintic Treatment.. Front Vet Sci 2021;8:708512.
- Daniels SP, Leng J, Swann JR, Proudman CJ. Bugs and drugs: a systems biology approach to characterising the effect of moxidectin on the horse's faecal microbiome.. Anim Microbiome 2020 Oct 14;2(1):38.
- Acquarone M, Salgado-Flores A, Sundset MA. The Bacterial Microbiome in the Small Intestine of Hooded Seals (Cystophora cristata).. Microorganisms 2020 Oct 27;8(11).
- Fujishiro MA, Lidbury JA, Pilla R, Steiner JM, Lappin MR, Suchodolski JS. Evaluation of the effects of anthelmintic administration on the fecal microbiome of healthy dogs with and without subclinical Giardia spp. and Cryptosporidium canis infections.. PLoS One 2020;15(2):e0228145.
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