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JAC Advance Access originally published online on August 18, 2009
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2009 64(4):751-754; doi:10.1093/jac/dkp296
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Original research

In vitro activity of pyrvinium pamoate against Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia intestinalis using radiolabelled thymidine incorporation and an SYBR Green I-based fluorescence assay

Autumn S. Downey1, Thaddeus K. Graczyk1,2,3 and David J. Sullivan1,*

1 Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA 2 Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Environmental Health Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA 3 Johns Hopkins Center for Water and Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

Received 18 February 2009; returned 3 April 2009; revised 17 July 2009; accepted 24 July 2009

* Corresponding author. Tel: +1-410-502-2522; Fax: +1-410-955-0105; E-mail: dsulliva{at}jhsph.edu

Objectives: To assess the in vitro activity of the FDA-approved antihelminthic drug pyrvinium pamoate against Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia intestinalis.

Methods: A head-to-head comparison of a standard radiolabelled thymidine incorporation assay and the SYBR Green I-based fluorescence assay for determination of in vitro inhibition by pyrvinium and metronidazole was performed.

Results: The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) for treatment of E. histolytica with pyrvinium was 4–5 µM for both assays compared with 1–2 µM for metronidazole. For pyrvinium treatment of G. intestinalis, an IC50 of ~12 µM was determined by the radiolabelled thymidine assay alone, with maximum inhibition around 60%. In contrast, the IC50 for metronidazole treatment using this assay was ~2 µM.

Conclusions: Pyrvinium is a potential gut lumen agent for treatment of intestinal amoebiasis, but possibly not for giardiasis. SYBR Green I is an alternative screening method for E. histolytica, but not G. intestinalis.

Keywords: drug assay , drug , protozoan


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