Improving the treatment efficacy in horses against strongylatosis using supramolecular complexes of fenbendazole

The purpose of the research is to obtain solid dispersions (SD) of fenbendazole (FBZ) with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), arabinogalactan (AG) or licorice extract (LE) using mechanochemical methods; to obtain the corresponding supramolecular complexes (SMC) by dissolving the SD in water and to study their anthelmintic activity against strongylatosis in equines; and to determine their prolonged action versus the basic FBZ preparation.

Materials and methods. SMCs were prepared by dissolving in water of the corresponding SD of FBZ and polymeric substances of the following formulations: FBZ : PVP : LE (10 : 45 : 45) and FBZ : PVP : AG (10 : 45 : 45). The obtained SMCs were studied on 72 horses infected with Strongylata. The experimental horses were divided into two groups (n = 42, and n = 30). The animals were given the FBZ SMC : PVP : AG or FBZ SMC : PVP : LE at doses of 3 and 5 mg/kg by the active substance (AS) and the basic FBZ (7.5 mg/kg by the AS). The anthelmintic effect was determined by the number of helminth eggs in 1 g of feces (NHE), the reduction in the number of eggs (RNE,%), and the number of cured animals (NCA, %) within 105 days after deworming. Statistical analysis was performed with the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests.

Results and discussion. Two weeks after deworming, the RNE in the experimental groups of SMC FBZ : PVP: AG and SMC FBZ : PVP: LE reached 97.92–100%, and 66.74% in the positive control group that was given FBZ. Subsequently, the efficacy decreased, but by week 15, the SMC FBZ : PVP : AG (5 mg/kg) group remained with the RNE of 91.14%, while this rate was 85.19 and 13.78% in the FBZ : PVP : LE (5 mg/kg) and FBZ groups, respectively. The analysis showed statistically significant differences between FBZ SMC and basic FBZ (P < 0.05) in favor of a higher and longer-lasting anthelmintic efficacy of the complexes. Differences between the FBZ : PVP : AG and the FBZ : PVP : LE were not detected at week 2 (P > 0.05), however, at weeks 8 and 15, the SMC FBZ : PVP : AG showed better anthelmintic effects (P < 0.05).

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