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This Sandbox is Reserved from 30/01/2013, through 30/12/2013 for use in the course "Biochemistry II" taught by Hannah Tims at the Messiah College. This reservation includes Sandbox Reserved 686 through Sandbox Reserved 700.

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Ivermectin

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Background

Ivermectin is an important pharmaceutical, used mainly as an anti-helminthic agent. It is a macrocyclic lactone, evidenced by its structure above, and a member of the larger category of avermectins. One of the most common ways Ivermectin is used, is to treat Onchocerciasis. Onchocerciasis, better known as River Blindness, is the second leading cause of infectious blindness in the world.

O. volvulus and Wolbachia are the infectious agents involved in this disease. Wolbachia, the bacterial symbiont of O. volvulus, is released when the worm dies and causes inflammation and keratitis. Ivermectin work to kills the O. volvulus microfilariae and prevent the female macrofilariae from producing more microfilariae. The drug interacts with the glutamate-gated chloride channel to accomplish this.

Mechanism