Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Preventing heartworm resistant to common drugs in dogs
By McTier, Tom L et al.·Published in Parasites & vectors·2021·Veterinary Medicine Research and Development, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Comparative preventive efficacy of ProHeart12, HeartgardPlus and InterceptorPlus against a macrocyclic lactone-resistant strain (JYD-34) of heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of adult beagles was tested to see how well different heartworm preventatives worked against a resistant strain of heartworm. The dogs were given either a single injection of ProHeart 12 or monthly doses of Heartgard Plus or Interceptor Plus. The results showed that ProHeart 12 was nearly 100% effective at preventing heartworm infections, while the other two treatments were much less effective, with only about 10-37% success. This means that if you're looking for a reliable heartworm preventative, ProHeart 12 may be the best option for protecting your dog against resistant heartworms.
People also search for: dog heartworm prevention · ProHeart 12 effectiveness · Heartgard Plus vs Interceptor Plus
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The current studies compared ProHeart12, HeartgardPlus and InterceptorPlus for preventive efficacy against JYD-34, a macrocyclic lactone (ML)-resistant strain of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs. METHODS: In two studies, each using 24 adult beagles, dogs were allocated to four treatment groups (n = 6): placebo-treated control; ProHeart 12 as per label (0.5 mg/kg moxidectin); Heartgard Plus (HGP) as per label (minimum 6 µg/kg ivermectin); and Interceptor Plus (INP) as per label (minimum 0.5 mg/kg milbemycin oxime). In both studies, ProHeart 12 was administered as a single subcutaneous dose on day 0, and HGP and INP were administered orally on days 0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150. In Studies 1 and 2, dogs were inoculated with 50 third-stage heartworm larvae (JYD-34 strain) on days -30 and 165, respectively. In Study 2, treatment for both HGP and INP was continued on days 180, 210, 240, 270, 300 and 330. Adult heartworm recoveries were performed on day 185 in Study 1 and on day 360 in Study 2. RESULTS: In Studies 1 and 2, all placebo-treated dogs developed adult heartworm infections (geometric mean, 29.9 and 34.9 worms/dog, respectively). A single dose of ProHeart 12 was 100% effective in preventing the development of adult JYD-34 heartworms when treatment was initiated 30 days after heartworm inoculation, while six consecutive monthly doses of HGP and INP were only 10.5% and 14.6% effective, respectively. The mean worm count for the ProHeart 12-treated group was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than that for the placebo control, HGP- and INP-treated groups. In Study 2, the dogs treated with ProHeart 12 had an efficacy of 98.3%. All dogs treated with HGP and INP for 12 consecutive months had adult heartworms with efficacies of 37.7% and 34.9%, respectively. The mean worm count for the ProHeart 12-treated dogs was significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than those for the control group, HGP- and INP-treated groups. CONCLUSIONS: A single administration of ProHeart 12 was 98-100% effective in preventing the development of the ML-resistant JYD-34 heartworm strain and was significantly better than multiple consecutive monthly doses of either Heartgard Plus or Interceptor Plus in both studies.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33902689/