Veterinary Parasitology 88 (2000) 299303

Short communication

The effect of doramectin, moxidectin and netobimin

against natural infections of Syphacia muris in rats
H. ge a, , E. Ayaz b , T. Ide c , S. Dalg c
a
b

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Yznc Yl University, Van, Turkey
c Glhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey
Received 13 July 1999; accepted 18 October 1999

Abstract
In this study, the effect of doramectin, moxidectin and netobimin was investigated in naturally
infected Syphacia muris in rats. The natural infection was determined by the use of cellophane tape
method on the perianal region and by the technique of centrifugal flotation of feces. The infected
rats were divided into three treated and one control group (N = 10). Doramectin and moxidectin at
the dose of 0.2 mg/kg per day and netobimin at the dose of 7.5 mg/kg per day were given in the diet
for 4 days. Cellophane tape preparations were performed in all groups on 4th and 7th day after the
last treatment. The rats of treated groups were necropsied on 7th day after the last treatment together
with that of control group. While doramectin and netobimin were highly effective against S. muris,
moxidectin was not found to be effective for eradication of S. muris. 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
All rights reserved.
Keywords: Syphacia sp.; Doramectin; Moxidectin; Netobimin; Rat

1. Introduction
Syphacia muris, the rat pinworm, is an oxyurid nematode that occurs in the cecum and
colon of laboratory rodents. Although pinworm infections are relatively harmless, pinworm
infections may affect research results (Fox et al., 1984). Although S. muris is considered
Corresponding author. Present address: Parazitoloji Anabilim Dal, A.. Veteriner Fakltesi 06110, Ankara,
Turkey. Tel.: +90-312-317-03-15; fax: +90-312-316-44-72.
E-mail address: oge@veterinary.ankara.edu.tr (H. ge).

0304-4017/00/$ see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 0 4 - 4 0 1 7 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 2 1 8 - 6

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to be common in rats (Flynn, 1973), their real prevalence is unknown. Infrequent surveys
of rat colonies have shown the prevalence to range from 21.7 to 100% in some colonies
(Burgu et al., 1986; Hasslinger and Wiethe, 1987; Bykoglu, 1996).
When one needs to treat large number of animals, such as an entire colony, several factors
must be considered when choosing the mode of teatment, including effectiveness, expense
and ease of administration. New agents and methods of treatment must still be explored.
Doramectin, moxidectin and netobimin are new anthelmintics. These anthelmintics have
been shown to be effective in the control of a wide range of nematode parasites in farm
animals (Richards et al., 1987; Jones et al., 1993; Bauer and Conraths, 1994). In rats,
the use of two of these anthelmintics against S. muris has not been reported. Moxidectin
(subcutaneously one dose rate of 0.2 mg/kg body weight) was not shown to be effective
against S. muris in rats (Gargl et al., 1997). Ivermectin, a member of the avermectin,
was established in rodents against pinworms. Typically, ivermectin was administered orally
(Ostlind et al., 1985; Battles et al., 1987; Flynn et al., 1989; Huerkamp, 1993) or added to
food (Ostlind et al., 1985) or added to water (Hasslinger and Wiethe, 1987; Klement et al.,
1996) to get a successful eradication. For effective eradication of pinworms, ivermectin was
administered in either single (Ostlind et al., 1985) or repeated doses (Ostlind et al., 1985;
Battles et al., 1987; Flynn et al., 1989; Huerkamp, 1993; Klement et al., 1996).
The purpose of the present study was to determine the efficacy of doramectin, moxidectin
and netobimin, which were given in the diet because of their simple administration, as a
treatment for S. muris.

2. Materials and methods

SpraqueDawley rats weighing approximately 150 g and known to be infected only with
S. muris were used in this study. Natural infections were identified by the use of cellophane impression of the perianal region and by the technique of ZnCl2 + NaCl centrifugal
flotation of feces. Cellophane tape tests were used for diagnostic purposes instead of fecal
examination because S. muris eggs were deposited in the perianal region, and not in the
feces. Egg counts showed a mean of 128 pinworm eggs per anal tape per rat before tretment.
All rats were kept at 2025 C, with 45% relative humidity, a light/dark cycle of 12 h and
1015 changes of fresh air per hour in cycle.
Infected rats were divided into four groups by random selection, three treated (N = 10)
and one control (N = 10), with an equal number of male and female in each group.
1 kg of mealed feed (open formula rat breeder) was mixed with 600 ml distilled water,
and 20 g gum arabique and drug, and then, this mixture was pelleted. 1 kg of medicated
feed contained doramectin (2 mg), moxidectin (2 mg) or netobimin (75 mg). The rats were
given medicated standardized feeds in pellet form containing doramectin (Dectomax,Pfizer
Animal Health), moxidectin (Cydectin, American Cyanamid Company) and netobimin
(Hapadex,Schering-Plough Animal Corporation) for 4 days. The ratio of feed was 10%
of body weight of each rat.
Examination of cellophane tape preparations was carried out once or twice before (Days
2 and 13) and after (Days 4 and 7) continuous anthelmintic medication. The necropsy was
applied to treatment groups on 7th day after the last treatment together with control group

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301

Table 1
The efficacy of doramectin, moxidectin and netobimin in naturally acquired S. muris infections in rats
Groups

Doramectin
Netobimin
Moxidectin
Control

Dosage, mg/kg
Anal tape results
per day 4 days after treatment
(Days 4 and 7)

0.2
7.5
0.2

+
+

Parasite counts recovered at

necropsy (Day 7)

Efficacy (%)

Total

minmax Geometric SEd

mean

3
842
1064

3
20232
36204

64.21
94.20

100a

98.8b
1.29 31.8c
1.18

Since there is no data, statistically analysis was not performed.

Since there is not enough data, statistically analysis was not performed.
c p > 0.05.
d SE: standard deviation of mean.
b

and was carried out humanely. Gastrointestinal tract was washed with normal saline. The
contents were examined under a stereomicroscope to count and identify any parasite present.
Efficacy was calculated from the geometric means of the S. muris counts as follows:
%Efficacy = ((geometric mean number of S. muris in control rates)
(geometric mean number of S. muris in treated rats))/
(geometric mean number of S. muris in control rats) 100
t-test and MannWhitney U-Wilcoxon Sum W tests were used to compare worm counts.

3. Results
The results are presented in Table 1. Anal tapes of doramectin and netobimin treated
rats were negative after continuous anthelmintic medication. S. muris were not seen in the
doramectin treated group. In the netobimin treated group, three parasites were recovered in
one rat. The efficacy of the treatment based on worm counts 7 days post treatment was 100
and 98.8% against S. muris, respectively. Moxidectin-treated rats continued to shed eggs in
high numbers throughout the experiment, and adults of those were recovered at necropsy.
Doramectin (0.2 mg/kg per day) and netobimin (7.5 mg/kg per day) were highly effective
against S. muris via the diet for 4 days. In contrast, moxidectin (0.2 mg/kg per day) was not
found to be effective to remove parasites and the difference between the mean number of
S. muris at necropsy was not significantly (p > 0.05) in the moxidectin and control groups.
No toxic side effects were observed in rats.

4. Discussion
Although S. muris infections are relatively harmless, the infection may affect the research
results. It is certain that the eradication of these parasites is very difficult. Many drugs

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are reported to be effective in removing adult worms, but often they are less efficient
in eliminating immature forms. Thus, repeated anthelminthic treatment is necessary and
continuous medication is also effective in preventing infections (Battles et al., 1987; Flynn
et al., 1989; Coghlan et al., 1993; Huerkamp, 1993).
Gargl et al. (1997) used moxidectin (subcutaneously, one dose rate of 0.2 mg/kg) for
elimination of the S. muris worms in their anthelminthic studies, but it was not effective.
Similarly, the results reported here showed that moxidectin (0.2 mg/kg per day4) was
ineffective (described previously by Gargl et al., 1997). Moxidectin did not kill pinworms,
and thus the presence of eggs in the environment will make immediate reinfestation possible.
The low efficacy of moxidectin is somewhat surprising, since studies in farm animals against
nematodes have shown that moxidectin is very effective (Richards et al., 1987; Jones et al.,
1993; Bauer and Conraths, 1994). It is difficult to explain why only 31.8% of the pinworms
were eliminated. This can be because of the chosen dose rate, route of administration
or species of parasite. Further studies are needed to see what effect, if any, continuous
medication had on rats for varying periods of time.
In contrast to moxidectin, all results of tape tests in rats were negative for pinworms after
doramectin and netobimin treatment. Similarly, at postmortem examination, 100 and 98.8%
of S. muris were eliminated by doramectin and netobimin, respectively. Doramectin can be
compared with ivermectin. The two compounds have been shown to be highly effective
against pinworms. Doramectin in the present study was effective when administered in feed
in repeated doses. Administration of doramectin resulted in a 100% reduction in parasite
burden compared with a 94.3100% reduction for ivermectin (Ostlind et al., 1985; Battles
et al., 1987; Flynn et al., 1989; Huerkamp, 1993; Klement et al., 1996). Doramectin can
provide an extremely effective alternative to ivermectin for eliminating pinworms from rat
and mice.
The anthelminthic efficacy of doramectin and netobimin in this study can be attributed
to our treatment regimen that clearly demonstrated the superior efficacy of doramectin
and netobimin against S. muris infections. They can be considered as potential therapeutic
agents for pinworms. Thus, it is likely that one or more follow-up courses of doramectin
and netobimin should be given to all rats to eradicate S. muris from a colony. This simple regimen may be suitable for the control of the pinworm infections in laboratory rat
colonies.
Control of pinworm infection is hampered by two factors: firstly, anthelminthics are only
partially effective against adults and have little or no impact on larvae or ova. Secondly,
Syphacia eggs rapidly embryonate and can survive outside the host. To reduce the potential
for reinfection from animal and/or personal movement, all rooms found to have pinworm
infections must be quarantined immediately and remained under quarantine until after the
treatment is complete and all tape test results are negative.

Acknowledgements
We would like to thank M. Orman, Department of Statistics for his technical assistance
in conducting the statistical analysis of the data.

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