Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Doxycycline stops early Brugia pahangi worm growth in infected dogs
By McCall, John W et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2025·TRS Labs, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effects of doxycycline on prepatent and patent infections of Brugia pahangi in dogs and observations on the growth and survival of Lin jirds and dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 20 Beagle dogs with a parasitic infection caused by Brugia pahangi were treated with doxycycline, an antibiotic, to see if it could eliminate the worms. The treatment was given for 30 days, and the results showed that dogs treated early had no worms left, while those treated later still had some stunted worms. In contrast, all untreated dogs had normal, live worms. The doxycycline treatment effectively killed the developing larvae and disrupted the growth of the adult worms, preventing them from reproducing.
People also search for: Beagle worm infection treatment · doxycycline for dog parasites · how to treat Brugia pahangi in dogs
Abstract
The effects of doxycycyline administered orally at 10 mg/kg twice daily for 30-day periods in 20 Beagles with SC-induced infections of Brugia pahangi and the effects of treatment on in vivo development of L3 fed on blood from these dogs was studied. Doxycycline was administered on Days 0-29, 40-69 or 65-94, with an untreated control. No worms were recovered from dogs treated on Days 0-29, while all dogs treated on Days 40-69 and 65-94 had some live, stunted worms at necropsy on 218-22 days PI. All control dogs had normal worms. Mosquitoes were fed blood from dogs to assess the ability of L3 to develop in jirds and dogs. L3 from treated and untreated groups were injected IP into jirds. Worm recovery for the treated group at Day 35 PI was somewhat lower than for controls, while recovery for the treated group at Day 60 PI was significantly lower. When L3 from treated and control groups were injected SC into dogs, none of the dogs in the treated group had Mf or live adult worms at necropsy on Day 88 PI, while all control dogs were microfilaremic and had live worms. In conclusion, doxycycline treatment of dogs infected with B. pahangi killed all developing larvae, most immature adults, and some mature adults and disrupted embryogenesis. Lfrom mosquitoes fed on dogs treated with doxycycline were unable to complete development when injected into dogs, and IP inoculation into jirds revealed short-term growth, stunting and gradual reduction in survival of the worms.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40782506/