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Abstract
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Abstract Fascioliasis is an important parasitic disease
which affects productivity of ruminants, and imposes significant
economic losses. Benzimidazoles are effective in
the treatment of fascioliasis; however, there are several
reports on benzimidazoles resistant flukes. Combinational
therapy is an approach to delay the emergence of resistant
flukes. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of
triclabendazole (TBZ) and combination of triclabendazole
and levamisole (TBZ ? LVM) in the treatment of sheep
naturally infected with Fasciola sp. For this purpose, 40
ewes infected with Fasciola sp. in three groups received
TBZ, and TBZ ? LVM, or remained untreated as CON.
Fecal egg count (FEC), fecal egg count reduction (FECR),
liver enzymes activity, albumin, globulin, and total protein
levels were measured on day 0, 7, 14, and 28 post treatments.
Obtained results showed that treatment with TBZ
and TBZ ? LVM resulted in significant reduction in FEC
(P\0.05), and FECR reached to values of higher than
90% on 28 day post treatment. The FEC for TBZ ? LMV
on day 7 and 14 were 12.25 ± 3.82 and 3.08 ± 1.03,
respectively which was significantly lower in comparison
to TBZ and CON (P\0.05). Efficacy of TBZ ? LMV
was higher than TBZ on day 7 and 14 post treatment;
however, no significant difference was observed on 28 day.
The liver enzyme activities on days 7 and 14 were lower in
the TBZ ? LVM sheep in comparison to the TBZ and
CON. Treatment with TBZ or TBZ ? LVM resulted in an
increase in albumin and a decrease in globulin. Over all,
the present study clarified the importance of combinational
therapy, and demonstrated that combination of TBZ ?
LVM resulted in higher efficacy and earlier improvement
of liver conditions in sheep naturally infected with Fasciola
sp.
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