TY - JOUR
T1 - A trial of a triple-drug treatment for lymphatic filariasis
AU - King, Christopher L.
AU - Suamani, James
AU - Sanuku, Nelly
AU - Cheng, Yao Chieh
AU - Satofan, Samson
AU - Mancuso, Brooke
AU - Goss, Charles W.
AU - Robinson, Leanne J.
AU - Siba, Peter M.
AU - Weil, Gary J.
AU - Kazura, James W.
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (GH5342). No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported. Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org. We thank the trial participants and the investigators who provided essential technical and community engagement and clinical support; the staff at the Papua New Guinea National Department of Health Lymphatic Filariasis Control Program, in particular Dr. Sibauk Bieb, Dr. Lucy John, Mr. Leo Makita, and Ms. Mary Yogahu, as well as Dr. James Wangi, a representative of the World Health Organization, Country Office, Papua New Guinea, for supporting the conduct of this trial; and Mr. Kurt Curtis at Washington University in St. Louis for performing the filarial antigen testing.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 Massachusetts Medical Society.
PY - 2018/11/8
Y1 - 2018/11/8
N2 - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization has targeted lymphatic filariasis for global elimination by 2020 with a strategy of mass drug administration. This trial tested whether a single dose of a three-drug regimen of ivermectin plus diethylcarbamazine plus albendazole results in a greater sustained clearance of microfilariae than a single dose of a two-drug regimen of diethylcarbamazine plus albendazole and is noninferior to the two-drug regimen administered once a year for 3 years. METHODS: In a randomized, controlled trial involving adults from Papua New Guinea with Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaremia, we assigned 182 participants to receive a single dose of the three-drug regimen (60 participants), a single dose of the two-drug regimen (61 participants), or the two-drug regimen once a year for 3 years (61 participants). Clearance of microfilariae from the blood was measured at 12, 24, and 36 months after trial initiation. RESULTS: The three-drug regimen cleared microfilaremia in 55 of 57 participants (96%) at 12 months, in 52 of 54 participants (96%) at 24 months, and in 55 of 57 participants (96%) at 36 months. A single dose of the two-drug regimen cleared microfilaremia in 18 of 56 participants (32%) at 12 months, in 31 of 55 participants (56%) at 24 months, and in 43 of 52 participants (83%) at 36 months (P=0.02 for the three-drug regimen vs. a single dose of the two-drug regimen at 36 months). The two-drug regimen administered once a year for 3 years cleared microfilaremia in 20 of 59 participants (34%) at 12 months, in 42 of 56 participants (75%) at 24 months, and in 51 of 52 participants (98%) at 36 months (P=0.004 for noninferiority of the three-drug regimen vs. the two-drug regimen administered once a year for 3 years at 36 months). Moderate adverse events were more common in the group that received the three-drug regimen than in the combined two-drug-regimen groups (27% vs. 5%, P<0.001). There were no serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: The three-drug regimen induced clearance of microfilariae from the blood for 3 years in almost all participants who received the treatment and was superior to the two-drug regimen administered once and noninferior to the two-drug regimen administered once a year for 3 years.
AB - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization has targeted lymphatic filariasis for global elimination by 2020 with a strategy of mass drug administration. This trial tested whether a single dose of a three-drug regimen of ivermectin plus diethylcarbamazine plus albendazole results in a greater sustained clearance of microfilariae than a single dose of a two-drug regimen of diethylcarbamazine plus albendazole and is noninferior to the two-drug regimen administered once a year for 3 years. METHODS: In a randomized, controlled trial involving adults from Papua New Guinea with Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaremia, we assigned 182 participants to receive a single dose of the three-drug regimen (60 participants), a single dose of the two-drug regimen (61 participants), or the two-drug regimen once a year for 3 years (61 participants). Clearance of microfilariae from the blood was measured at 12, 24, and 36 months after trial initiation. RESULTS: The three-drug regimen cleared microfilaremia in 55 of 57 participants (96%) at 12 months, in 52 of 54 participants (96%) at 24 months, and in 55 of 57 participants (96%) at 36 months. A single dose of the two-drug regimen cleared microfilaremia in 18 of 56 participants (32%) at 12 months, in 31 of 55 participants (56%) at 24 months, and in 43 of 52 participants (83%) at 36 months (P=0.02 for the three-drug regimen vs. a single dose of the two-drug regimen at 36 months). The two-drug regimen administered once a year for 3 years cleared microfilaremia in 20 of 59 participants (34%) at 12 months, in 42 of 56 participants (75%) at 24 months, and in 51 of 52 participants (98%) at 36 months (P=0.004 for noninferiority of the three-drug regimen vs. the two-drug regimen administered once a year for 3 years at 36 months). Moderate adverse events were more common in the group that received the three-drug regimen than in the combined two-drug-regimen groups (27% vs. 5%, P<0.001). There were no serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: The three-drug regimen induced clearance of microfilariae from the blood for 3 years in almost all participants who received the treatment and was superior to the two-drug regimen administered once and noninferior to the two-drug regimen administered once a year for 3 years.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056421891&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1056/NEJMoa1706854
DO - 10.1056/NEJMoa1706854
M3 - Article
C2 - 30403937
AN - SCOPUS:85056421891
SN - 0028-4793
VL - 379
SP - 1801
EP - 1810
JO - New England Journal of Medicine
JF - New England Journal of Medicine
IS - 19
ER -