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Serum Strongylus vulgaris-specific antibody responses to anthelmintic treatment in naturally infected horses

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Abstract

Strongylus vulgaris is the most pathogenic helminth parasite of horses, causing verminous endarteritis with thromboembolism and infarction. A serum enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been validated for detection of antibodies to an antigen produced by migrating larvae of this parasite. The aim was to evaluate ELISA responses to anthelmintic treatment in cohorts of naturally infected horses. Fifteen healthy horses harboring patent S. vulgaris infections were turned out for communal grazing in May 2013 (day 0). On day 55, horses were ranked according to ELISA titers and randomly allocated to the following three groups: no treatment followed by placebo pellets daily; ivermectin on day 60 followed by placebo pellets daily; or ivermectin on day 60 followed by daily pyrantel tartrate. Fecal and serum samples were collected at ∼28-day intervals until study termination on day 231. Increased ELISA values were observed for the first 53 days following ivermectin treatment. Titers were significantly reduced 80 days after ivermectin treatment. Horses receiving daily pyrantel tartrate maintained lower ELISA values from 137 days post ivermectin treatment until trial termination. These results illustrate that a positive ELISA result is indicative of either current or prior exposure to larval S. vulgaris infection within the previous 5 months.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported financially by Farnam Companies, Inc. The authors are grateful to Dr. Tom Kennedy for his sponsorship.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. M.H. Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Martin K. Nielsen, Jennifer Bellaw, Holli S. Gravatte & Emily F. Rubinson

  2. Department of Statistics, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    Anand N. Vidyashankar & Xin Cao

  3. East Tennessee Clinical Research, Inc, Rockwood, TN, USA

    Craig R. Reinemeyer

Authors
  1. Martin K. Nielsen
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  2. Anand N. Vidyashankar
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  3. Jennifer Bellaw
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  4. Holli S. Gravatte
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  5. Xin Cao
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  6. Emily F. Rubinson
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  7. Craig R. Reinemeyer
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Correspondence to Martin K. Nielsen.

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Nielsen, M.K., Vidyashankar, A.N., Bellaw, J. et al. Serum Strongylus vulgaris-specific antibody responses to anthelmintic treatment in naturally infected horses. Parasitol Res 114, 445–451 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4201-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-4201-5

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