Adult black fly with Onchocerca volvulus emerging from the insect’s antenna Photo: United States Department of Agriculture Onchoceriasis – also known as river blindness – is the world’s second leading infectious cause of blindness. The disease is caused by the nematode, Onchocerca volvulus, and is transmitted to humans through the bite of a blackfly. Once inside the body, the female worm produces thousands of larval worms (microfilariae) which migrate to the skin and eyes. When the microfilariae die, they cause intense itching and a strong immune response that can destroy nearby tissue, leading eventually to blindness and disfiguring skin lesions. Control programmes have involved the use of larvicides to reduce blackfly populations and the use of ivermectin to treat infected people and limit the spread of disease. Ivermectin is most effective against the larval stage of the worm and is believed to kill the parasites by activating glutamate-gated chloride channels which are specific to invertebrates.
Closantel A team led by researchers at the Scripps Institute has now focused on a new way to kill the parasite. The protective outer cuticle of the worms is made of chitin and two classes of enzymes – chitin synthases and chitinases – are known to be critical for chitin formation and remodelling. One chitinase, OvCHT1, is expressed only in the infective third-stage larvae and is believed to be involved in development and host transmission. The team screened a small library of compounds for activity against OvCHT1 and found that closantel was able to inhibit the enzyme. When closantel was tested on cultured third-stage larvae, the compound prevented the larvae from moulting and developing into adult worms. Since the mechanism of action of closantel is completely different to that of ivermectin, it – or other chitinase inhibitors – could potentially be used to treat ivermectin-resistant worms. Closantel is a broad-spectrum anti-parasitic agent currently used in some countries in veterinary medicine.
