Dicationic furans inhibit development of Cryptosporidium parvum in HSD/ICR suckling Swiss mice

The efficacy of dicationic diarylfurans was evaluated against Cryptosporidium parvum by a suckling murine model. Candidate drugs were solubilized or suspended in deionized water and administered orally at a constant dose rate on days 0-5 (treatment day 0) to suckling ICR Swiss mice experimentally inoculated with oocysts of C. parvum. Efficacy was based on numbers of oocysts recovered from the intestinal tracts of mice subjected to necropsy examination on day 6. Numerous candidate furans significantly reduced the numbers of oocysts recovered from treated mice compared with control mice. Compounds 1, 2, 4, and 9 demonstrated superior efficacies (10% of controls or better) against C. parvum. Compounds 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 17, 18, and 19 also significantly reduced the numbers of oocysts recovered from treated mice but demonstrated efficacies ranging from 17 to 65% of controls. Compound 4 was particularly efficacious against C. parvum at a dosage as low as 8.5 mg/kg of body weight. Compound 4 is identified as a lead compound for additional studies in other animal models.