Table 4.

Albendazole and mebendazole for treatment of filarial nematode infections

Drug	Disease & parasite	Regimen	Efficacy	Remark	References
Albendazole	Lymphatic filariasis (Wuchereria bancrofti)	400 mg or 600 mg single dose	Effective	Combined with DECa or ivermectin	[195,196]
	Lymphatic filariasis (Brugia spp.)	400 mg single dose	Effective	Combined with DEC	[200,201]
	Onchocerciasis (Onchocerca volvulus)	800 mg/day×3 days	Effective	Combined with oxycycline	[217]
	Loiasis (Loa loa)	800 mg/day×28 days	High recovery	Followed by ivermectin	[229]
	Mansonellosis (Mansonella perstans)	800 mg/day×10 days	Favorable	Doxycycline as an alternative drug	[237,243,244]
	Dirofilariasis (Dirofilaria immitis)	800 mg/day×5 days	Good	As conservative treatment	[250]
Mebendazole	Lymphatic filariasis (Wuchereria bancrofti)	30 mg/kg/day×12 days	Poor	Combined with DEC	[210]
	Lymphatic filariasis (Brugia spp.)	Need trials	-	-	-
	Onchocerciasis (Onchocerca volvulus)	Prolonged therapy needed	Poor	Albendazole more potent than mebendazole	[225]
	Loiasis (Loa loa)	300–1,500 mg/day× 21 days	Fairly good	Albendazole better than mebendazole	[235]
	Mansonellosis (Mansonella perstans)	200–400 mg/day× 7–42 days	Satisfactory	Combined with DEC	[237]
	Dirofilariasis (Dirofilaria immitis)	Need trials	-	-	-

^aDEC, diethylcarbamazine.