Fig 1.
Structures of derquantel and abamectin.
A: Structure of derquantel. B: Structure of abamectin. Abamectin is a mixture of avermectin B1a and avermectin B1b. Avermectin B1a differs from avermectin B1b by a functional group at the ‘R’ position, and makes up more than 80% of abamectin, while avermectin B1b makes up less than 20% of abamectin.
Fig 2.
Acetylcholine and pyrantel concentration-response relationships for the Ode-UNC-29:Ode-UNC-63:Ode-UNC-38 receptor.
A: Representative trace (inward currents, holding potential -60mV, from oocytes expressing Ode-UNC-29:Ode-UNC-63:Ode-UNC-38) following 10 seconds applications of different acetylcholine concentrations, from 0.1 μM to 100 μM. B: Representative trace (inward currents, holding potential -60mV, from oocytes expressing Ode-UNC-29:Ode-UNC-63:Ode-UNC-38) of the 10 seconds application of different pyrantel concentrations, from 0.03 μM to 10 μM. An initial 10 seconds application of 100 μM acetylcholine served as the control. C: Concentration-response plots for acetylcholine (n = 4, black) and pyrantel (n = 6, red). Results were normalized to 100 μM acetylcholine current responses and expressed as mean ± S.E.M.
Fig 3.
Pyrantel concentration-response relationships in the presence of 0.03 μM and 0.1 μM abamectin.
A: Representative trace (inward currents, holding potential -60mV, from oocytes expressing Ode-UNC-29:Ode-UNC-63:Ode-UNC-38) of the 10 seconds application of the control 100 μM acetylcholine, followed by a 10 minutes application of abamectin (0.03 μM) and finally, a 10 seconds application of different pyrantel concentrations in the continued presence of abamectin. B: Concentration-response plots for pyrantel in the absence (n = 6, red) and presence of 0.03 μM abamectin (n = 5, orange) and 0.1 μM abamectin (n = 6, dark blue). Results were normalized to 100 μM acetylcholine current responses and expressed as mean ± S.E.M. Notice 0.03 μM abamectin caused an inhibition of current responses to pyrantel, and this inhibition was greater with 0.1 μM abamectin.
Fig 4.
Effects of increasing concentrations of abamectin (above 0.1 μM) on the pyrantel concentration-response plots.
A: Concentration-response plots for pyrantel in the absence (n = 6, red) and presence of 0.1 μM abamectin (n = 6, dark blue); 0.3 μM abamectin (n = 5, dark green); 1 μM abamectin (n = 6, pink); 10 μM abamectin (n = 5, light blue). Results were normalized to 100 μM acetylcholine current responses and expressed as mean ± S.E.M. Increasing the concentration of abamectin from 0.1 μM to 0.3, 1 and 10 μM rather caused a reduction in the inhibition instead of a potentiation. B: Bar chart showing the mean ± S.E.M of the maximum current responses (Rmax) for pyrantel and the different abamectin concentrations. Rmax for 0.1 μM abamectin (n = 6, dark blue), 0.3 μM abamectin (n = 5, dark green), 1 μM abamectin (n = 6, pink) and 10 μM abamectin (n = 5, light blue) were significantly lower than Rmax for pyrantel alone (n = 6, red). * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 and *** p < 0.001, unpaired two-tailed student t-test. C: Model of ligand sites of action. Pyrantel binds to the orthosteric sites opening the channel. Low concentrations of abamectin (0.03 and 0.1 μM) bind to a negative allosteric site (NAM) in the lipid phase of the channel, inhibiting opening. Higher concentrations of abamectin (0.3, 1 and 10 μM) bind to a positive allosteric site (PAM) increasing opening. D: Abamectin Rmax inhibition (blue curve) and inhibition reduction (red curve) dose response plots. The data points for inhibition used data from 0.03 μM and 0.1 μM abamectin from Fig 3. The data points for inhibition reduction used data from Fig 4B.
Fig 5.
Effects of 0.1 μM derquantel alone, 0.3 μM abamectin alone, and derquantel and abamectin combination (0.1 μM derquantel + 0.3 μM abamectin) on the pyrantel concentration-response plots.
A: Representative trace (inward currents from oocytes expressing Ode-UNC-29:Ode-UNC-63:Ode-UNC-38) of the 10 seconds application of the control 100 μM acetylcholine, followed by a 10 minutes application of 0.3 μM abamectin and finally, a 10 seconds application of different pyrantel concentrations in the continued presence of abamectin. B: Representative trace (inward currents from oocytes expressing Ode-UNC-29:Ode-UNC-63:Ode-UNC-38) of the 10 seconds application of the control 100 μM acetylcholine, followed by a 10 minutes application of derquantel and abamectin combination and finally, a 10 seconds application of different pyrantel concentrations in the continued presence of the derquantel and abamectin combination. C: Concentration-response plots for pyrantel in the absence (n = 6, red) and presence of 0.1 μM derquantel (n = 4, light purple); 0.3 μM abamectin (n = 5, dark green); 0.1 μM derquantel + 0.3 μM abamectin combination (n = 6, olive green). Results were normalized to 100 μM acetylcholine current responses and expressed as mean ± S.E.M. Inhibition with 0.1 μM derquantel + 0.3 μM abamectin combination was greater than that with 0.1 μM derquantel alone and 0.3 μM abamectin alone. The calculated additive effect for the combination of derquantel and abamectin (broken black) was not statistically different (p > 0.05, paired two-tailed student t-test) from the observed additive effect for the combination of derquantel and abamectin (olive green). D: Bar chart showing the mean ± S.E.M of the maximum current responses (Rmax) for 0.1 μM derquantel (n = 4, light purple); 0.3 μM abamectin (n = 5, dark green); 0.1 μM derquantel + 0.3 μM abamectin combination (n = 6, olive green). Rmax for the combination of 0.1 μM derquantel + 0.3 μM abamectin was significantly smaller than Rmax for 0.1 μM derquantel alone and for 0.3 μM abamectin alone. * p < 0.05 and *** p < 0.001, unpaired two-tailed student t-test.