A Review of Traditional Anthelmintic Approaches: Exploring Medicinal Plants and Polyherbal Formulations for Effective and Safe Gastrointestinal Parasite Treatment

Abstract

Abstract: Gastrointestinal parasites have become the most common reason for infection in humans, affecting many people in the world. Helminthic infections pose a large threat to public health in developing countries. The most common parasites of helminths in humans are whipworms(Trichuristrichiura), roundworms(Ascarislumbricoides), tapeworms(Taenia solium), and hookworms (Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus). In the current scenario, synthetic medicines are found to be effective in curing the infection but these medicines produce side-effects that impair the effectiveness of the treatment. Fortunately, in the traditional system of medicines various medicinal plants have been mentioned for their anthelmintic activities, which are relatively free from side effects and are used by ethnic groups worldwide. In the 21st century, an ideal anthelmintic agent should be cost-effective, provide a high percentage of cure, have a broad spectrum of action, and free from toxicity to the host. However, none of the modern marketed medicines fulfill these requirements. Therefore, in this view, several researchers have undertaken various in vivo and in vitro studies to scrutinize folklore medicinal plants for their proclaimed anthelmintic activity. In thisreview, we have summarized some scientifically approved polyherbal formulations and Indian medicinal plants documented for anthelmintic activity, which can be further studied to achieve novel herbal lead molecules from them by isolating their principal compounds.