The use of penicillamine as an adjuvant to tartar emetic in the treatment of experimental schistosomiasis.

One of the principal drawbacks of antimonial therapy in schistosomiasis has been the prevalence of annoying, and sometimes dangerous, side-effects. The adjuvant administration of chelating agents offers a possible solution to this problem, providing this can be achieved without appreciably decreasing the therapeutic effect of the drug.The authors found that the chelating agent penicillamine lowered the toxicity of tartar emetic for mice and hamsters without affecting the tissue uptake of antimony. When administered in a similar manner to hamsters infected with Schistosoma mansoni there was no effect on the uptake of antimony by the parasites, or on the cure rate. This suggests a potential usefulness of penicillamine in antimony therapy.