In vivo efficacy of the boron-pleuromutilin AN11251 against Wolbachia of the rodent filarial nematode Litomosoides sigmodontis

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Jan 27;14(1):e0007957. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007957. eCollection 2020 Jan.

Abstract

The elimination of filarial diseases such as onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis is hampered by the lack of a macrofilaricidal-adult worm killing-drug. In the present study, we tested the in vivo efficacy of AN11251, a boron-pleuromutilin that targets endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria from filarial nematodes and compared its efficacy to doxycycline and rifampicin. Doxycycline and rifampicin were previously shown to deplete Wolbachia endosymbionts leading to a permanent sterilization of the female adult filariae and adult worm death in human clinical studies. Twice-daily oral treatment of Litomosoides sigmodontis-infected mice with 200 mg/kg AN11251 for 10 days achieved a Wolbachia depletion > 99.9% in the adult worms, exceeding the Wolbachia reduction by 10-day treatments with bioequivalent human doses of doxycycline and a similar reduction as high-dose rifampicin (35 mg/kg). Wolbachia reductions of > 99% were also accomplished by 14 days of oral AN11251 at a lower twice-daily dose (50 mg/kg) or once-per-day 200 mg/kg AN11251 treatments. The combinations tested of AN11251 with doxycycline had no clear beneficial impact on Wolbachia depletion, achieving a > 97% Wolbachia reduction with 7 days of treatment. These results indicate that AN11251 is superior to doxycycline and comparable to high-dose rifampicin in the L. sigmodontis mouse model, allowing treatment regimens as short as 10-14 days. Therefore, AN11251 represents a promising pre-clinical candidate that was identified in the L. sigmodontis model, and could be further evaluated and developed as potential clinical candidate for human lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Boron
  • Diterpenes / pharmacology*
  • Doxycycline / pharmacology
  • Female
  • Filariasis / drug therapy*
  • Filariasis / microbiology
  • Filarioidea / drug effects*
  • Filarioidea / microbiology
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Pleuromutilins
  • Polycyclic Compounds / pharmacology*
  • Rifampin / pharmacology
  • Symbiosis
  • Wolbachia / drug effects*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Diterpenes
  • Polycyclic Compounds
  • Doxycycline
  • Boron
  • Rifampin

Grants and funding

Financial support to Bonn (AH, MPH) was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134310). AE received a fellowship by the Jürgen Manchot foundation. AH is a member of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and of the Excellence Cluster Immunosensation (DFG, EXC 1023). Work at Anacor (RTJ, CSL, YRF, RS, EE, XL, JJP) was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Contract number 23629). This work was further supported by an A-WOL consortium grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (OPP1054324). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.