Background

Gastrointestinal parasites like nematodes are associated with significant impacts on animal health, causing poor growth rates, diseases and even death. Traditional parasite control includes the use of anthelmintic drugs, albeit being associated with drug resistance and ecotoxicity. In the last decade, biological control of parasites using nematophagous or predatory fungi has been increasingly studied, although systematic evidence of its efficacy is still lacking. The aim of this work was to assess the evidence of efficacy of nematophagous fungi in the control of nematodes and other gastrointestinal parasites in different animal species.

Methods

Using the PICO method (Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcomes), we performed a systematic review on the subject to search for original papers published between January 2006 and October 2019, written in English, and indexed in PubMed/Medline. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms were used in the syntax. Papers were selected for detailed review based on title and abstract. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, and relevant data were collected from the remaining papers.

Results

The literature search retrieved 616 papers. Eighty-nine were submitted to a detailed review. In the end, 53 papers were included in the analysis. The studies were very heterogeneous, using different fungi, doses, frequency of administration, duration of treatment, host animals, and target parasites. Considering the 53 papers, 44 studies (83 % of the interventions) showed efficacy, with only 9 studies (17 %) showing no significant differences when compared to control.

Conclusion

With the increasing hazards of drug resistance and ecotoxicity, biological control with predatory fungi stands out as a good tool for future parasite management, whether as a complementary treatment or as an alternative to standard parasite control.

中文翻译：

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掠食性真菌在控制家畜和野生动物中胃肠道寄生虫的功效-系统综述。

背景

线虫等胃肠道寄生虫对动物健康有重大影响，导致生长速度缓慢，疾病甚至死亡。传统的寄生虫控制包括使用驱虫药，尽管与耐药性和生态毒性有关。在过去的十年中，尽管仍缺乏系统的证据证明其功效，但是使用线虫或掠食性真菌对寄生虫进行生物控制的研究越来越多。这项工作的目的是评估线虫真菌在控制不同动物物种中的线虫和其他胃肠道寄生虫方面的功效的证据。

方法

使用PICO方法（人口，干预，比较和结果），我们对该主题进行了系统的综述，以寻找2006年1月至2019年10月之间发表的，以英文撰写并在PubMed / Medline中建立索引的原始论文。语法中使用了医学主题词（MeSH）术语。根据标题和摘要选择论文进行详细审查。应用纳入和排除标准，并从其余论文中收集相关数据。

结果

文献检索检索到616篇论文。89位患者接受了详细审查。最后，分析包括53篇论文。这些研究非常不同，使用不同的真菌，剂量，给药频率，治疗时间，宿主动物和目标寄生虫。考虑到53篇论文，有44项研究（占干预措施的83％）显示出疗效，只有9项研究（占干预率的17％）与对照相比没有显着差异。

结论

随着耐药性和生态毒性危害的增加，无论是作为补充治疗还是作为标准寄生虫控制的替代手段，使用掠食性真菌进行生物控制都是未来寄生虫管理的良好工具。