The activity of drugs against Giardia intestinalis in neonatal mice.

The activities of 12 5-nitroimidazoles and ten other compounds have been compared against Giardia intestinalis stock BRIS/83/HEPU/106 in a suckling mouse model. Ronidazole, satranidazole and fexinidazole were the most active compounds being 2.8, 2.0 and 2.0 times more active than tinidazole respectively and warrant further investigation as potential chemotherapeutic agents. The results obtained in mice are consistent with the known activity of nitroimidazoles in man. There was a strong positive correlation between these results and previous in-vitro studies obtained using a 3H-thymidine uptake assay, indicating that in-vitro studies are of value in predicting in-vivo responses.