Molecular and Biological Diagnostic Tests for Monitoring Benzimidazole Resistance in Human Soil-Transmitted Helminths

Aïssatou Diawara Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue, Canada; Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

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Jan M. Schwenkenbecher Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue, Canada; Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

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Ray M. Kaplan Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue, Canada; Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

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Roger K. Prichard Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue, Canada; Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

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In endemic countries with soil-transmitted helminths mass drug administration with albendazole or mebendazole are being implemented as a control strategy. However, it is well known in veterinary helminths that the use of the same benzimidazole drugs can place selection on the β-tubulin gene, leading to resistance. Given the concern that resistance could arise in human soil-transmitted helminths, there is an urgent need to develop accurate diagnostic tools for monitoring resistance. In this study, we developed molecular assays to detect putative resistance genetic changes in Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and hookworms, and we optimized an egg hatch assay for the canine hookworm Ancylostoma caninum and applied it to Necator americanus. Both assays were tested on field samples. The molecular assays demonstrated their reproducibility and capacity to detect the presence of worms carrying putative resistance-associated genetic changes. However, further investigations are needed to validate our molecular and biological tests on additional field isolates.

Author Notes

* Address correspondence to Roger K. Prichard, Institute of Parasitology, McGill, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec H9X 3V9, Canada. E-mail: roger.prichard@mcgill.ca

Financial support: This work was supported by a grant from the Atlanta Research and Education Foundation, Inc. in collaboration with the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), and the research at the Institute of Parasitology was supported by the Québec Centre for Host Parasite Interactions/FQRNT.

Authors' addresses: Aïssatou Diawara and Roger K. Prichard, Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada, E-mails: aissatou.diawara@mail.mcgill.ca and roger.prichard@mcgill.ca. Jan M. Schwenkenbecher and Ray M. Kaplan, Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, E-mails: janschwenkenbecher@yahoo.de and rkaplan@uga.edu.

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