An in vitro method for the chemotherapeutic investigation of anthelminthic potency

Abstract

A method is described for the detection of anthelminthic potency. The procedure does not call for exceptional technical skill, is relatively economical of drugs and living material alike, and is rapid and convenient in application. It has certain limitations such as are inherent in any in vitro method, and a special limitation in that it is not applicable to the study of drugs which act otherwise than on the neuro-muscular mechanisms of nematodes. Within these limitations it responds to compounds of known anthelminthjc efficiency and shows little or no response to compounds known to be devoid of anthelminthie value. Approximate quantitative data can be obtained with its aid, the reactions provoked by a given drug are substantially the same in different individuals, and each test provides a visible record of the influence of the drug under examination.We do not claim that this procedure can in any sense replace experiments upon infested hosts, but must rather be followed up by such experiments when a promising degree of anthelminthie potency has been detected with its aid. We do, however, believe that it has a very real usefulness within the field to which its application is limited. As a preliminary device which allows the selection of promising compounds from large groups of new synthetic products it has already demonstrated its value in tests carried out in this laboratory on a series of about fifty new compounds prepared by Prof. Friedmann.