Comparative hepatic metabolism of the anthelmintic flubendazole in rat, swine and sheep

Abstract

Flubendazole (FLBZ) is a broad-spectrum benzimidazole anthel- mintic widely used in pigs and poultry. This drug has shown good efficacy to control gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep and macrofilaria in lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis in man (Mackenzie & Geary, 2011). Flubendazole contains a ketone group at position )5 of the benzimidazole ring which has implications on its metabolic pattern. For instance, carbonyl- reducing enzymes catalyse the NADPH-dependent conversion of FLBZ into its reduced metabolite (red-FLBZ) in sheep liver (Ba´rt´ıkova´ et al., 2010). The aim of the current work was to assess the comparative FLBZ metabolism pattern in rat, swine and sheep liver cytosolic and microsomal fractions.