Abstract

The study was conducted to compare the efficacy of ivermectin with some drugs in treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis in vitro and in Balb/ C mice. The cultivation of Leishmania tropica was done on Nove MacNeal-Nicole medium (NNN). Assessment of the efficacy of ivermectin and other drugs was performed in vitro and in vivo (Balb/C mice). Ivermectin lead to sharp decrease in viable promastigotes in vitro. The efficacy of ivermectin was highest followed by rifampicin amphotericin B. and nystatin. In subcutaneous injection of the drugs in mice, one month post treatment, it was found that the MLS was reached zero in ivermectin treated group, while in berenil, amphotericin B, metronidazole, pentostam and control groups were 3.5, 3.1, 4, 3.6 and 4 respectively. The cure rate one month after treatment with ivermectin was 100%, followed by pentostam 70%, berenil 60%, amphotericin B 50%, and metronidazole 50%. One month after topical treatment, the MLS was reached to 1 in rifampicin treated group, while in ivermectin, nystatin, erythromycin and control groups were 3.1, 3, 4 and 4 respectively. The cure rate with ivermectin was 40% while it was 80% for rifampicin and 60% for nystatin. The results concluded that the efficacy of ivermectin was highest than er drugs in killing the parasites in vitro and by subcutaneous inoculation, while the efficacy of rifampicin was highest by topical treatment.