Trial reportClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2022
Safety and Efficacy of Levamisole in Loiasis: A Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind Clinical Trial.
Trial report in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Design and analysis of randomized clinical trials for onchocerciasis, loiasis and mansonellosis: A systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Pooled it
- Activity of antifilarial drugs on microfilaremia in the treatment of loiasis: a systematic review.Parasites & vectors · 2025Pooled it
- Safety and efficacy of 3- and 5-day regimens of levamisole in loiasis: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Nitazoxanide Exhibits Schistosomicidal Activity Against Schistosomula and Adult Schistosoma mansoni and Influences Praziquantel-Associated Outcomes.Acta parasitologica · 2026Article
- Onchocerciasis overview: pathogenesis, clinical spectrum, and therapeutic challenges of a neglected tropical disease.Frontiers in parasitology · 2026Review
- Reference values for cardiac dimensions and function in a rural population living in a loiasis-endemic area of the Republic of the Congo: An echocardiographic study.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Disability and quality of life assessment using WHODAS-12 items 2.0 and EQ-5D-5L in a rural area endemic for loiasis in the Republic of Congo: A population-based cross-sectional study (the MorLo project).PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Chronic kidney disease related to Loa loa microfilaremia in a rural area of the Republic of Congo: a population-based cross-sectional study.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2025Article
- Revisiting the Loa loa microfilaremia thresholds above which serious adverse events may occur with ivermectin treatment.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Association between Loa loa microfilaremia and anatomical hyposplenia in a rural area of the Republic of Congo: a population-based cross-sectional study.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2025Article
- Variability of Loa loa microfilarial counts in successive blood smears and its potential implication in drug-related serious adverse events.Parasites & vectors · 2024Article
- Evaluation of a novel biplex rapid diagnostic test for antibody responses to Loa loa and Onchocerca volvulus infections.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Association between arterial stiffness and Loa loa microfilaremia in a rural area of the Republic of Congo: A population-based cross-sectional study (the MorLo project).PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Levamisole, as a viral vaccine adjuvant, induces robust host defense through the modulation of innate and adaptive immune responses.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Loa loa and Mansonella perstans microfilaremia in the department of Lékoumou, Republic of Congo.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- The pipeline for drugs for control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases: 2. Oral anti-infective drugs and drug combinations for off-label use.Parasites & vectors · 2023Review
- Association between blood Loa loa microfilarial density and proteinuria levels in a rural area of the Republic of Congo (the MorLo project): a population-based cross-sectional study.The Lancet. Microbe · 2023Article
- [Reliability evaluation in rural Congo of the calibrated blood smear technique to assessMedecine tropicale et sante internationale · 2023Article
- Temporal variability of Loa loa microfilaraemia.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIndividuals with high microfilarial densities (MFDs) of Loa loa are at risk of developing serious adverse events (SAEs) after ivermectin treatment. Pretreatment with drugs progressively reducing Loa MFDs below the risk threshold might help prevent these SAEs. We assessed the safety and efficacy of levamisole for this purpose.
methodsA double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, MFD-ascending trial was conducted in the Republic of the Congo. Participants were treated in 3 cohorts defined by pretreatment MFD and levamisole dose (cohort 1: 1.0kg and 1.5mg/kg; cohorts 2 and 3: 2.5mg/kg). Safety outcomes were occurrence of SAE and adverse event frequency during the first week. The efficacy outcomes were MFD reduction from baseline and proportions of individuals with at least 40% and 80% MFD reduction at day 2 (D2), D7, and D30.
resultsThe 2 lowest doses (1.0mg/kg and 1.5mg/kg) caused no SAEs but were ineffective. Compared with placebo, 2.5mg/kg levamisole caused more mild adverse events (10/85 vs. 3/85, P=.018), a higher median reduction from baseline to D2 (-12.9% vs. +15.5%, P<.001), D7 (-4.9% vs. +18.7%, P<.001), and D30 (-0.5% vs. +13.5%, P=.036) and a higher percentage of participants with >40% MFD reduction at D2 (17.5% vs. 1.2%, P<.001), D7 (11.8% vs. 6.3%, P=.269), and D30 (18.5% vs. 9.6%, P=.107).
conclusionsA single 2.5mg/kg levamisole dose induces a promising transient reduction in Loa loa MFDs and should encourage testing different regimens.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.