Other uses
Discarded bottles of albendazole distributed in Africa
In Africa, albendazole is being used to treat lymphatic filariasis as part of efforts to stop transmission of the disease. In sub-Saharan Africa, albendazole is used in conjunction with ivermectin, and elsewhere in the world, the medicine is used in combination with diethylcarbamazine.
In Brazil and other countries it is used against giardiasis.
Mechanism of action
As a vermicidal, albendazole causes degenerative alterations in the and intestinal cells of the worm by binding to the colchicine-sensitive site of tubulin, thus inhibiting its polymerization or assembly into microtubules. The loss of the cytoplasmic microtubules leads to impaired uptake of glucose by the larval and adult stages of the susceptible parasites, and depletes their glycogen stores. Degenerative changes in the endoplasmic reticulum, the mitochondria of the germinal layer, and the subsequent release of lysosome.