Abstract
The nematode, Haemonchus contortus, is responsible for major economic losses in the livestock industry. The management of parasites such as H. contortus has been through the use of synthetic parasiticides. This has resulted in the presence of residues in meat and milk, which affects food safety. The development of resistance to available anthelmintics coupled with their high cost has further complicated matters. This has led to the investigation of alternative methods to manage nematodes, including the use of plants and plant extracts as a potential source of novel anthelmintics. Acetone extracts were prepared from 15 South African plant species and their anthelmintic activity determined using the egg hatch assay (EHA). The leaf extract of Cleome gynandra had the best inhibitory activity (68% ± 3%) at a concentration of 2.5 mg/mL, followed by the stem extract of Maerua angolensis (65% ± 5%). The extracts had a relatively low toxicity on Vero cells determined by the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) cellular assay.
Highlights
Livestock production in tropical and developing countries is severely hampered by gastrointestinal parasites (Adejinmi & Harrison 1997; Hounzangbe-Adote et al 2005)
The systematic application of anthelmintic drugs, in an effort to manage infections produced by H. contortus, has led to the emergence of resistant strains (Akhtar et al 2000; Prichard 1994)
The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro anthelmintic action of acetone extracts from 15 South African plant species used traditionally to control parasites such as H. contortus using the egg hatch assay (EHA)
Summary
Livestock production in tropical and developing countries is severely hampered by gastrointestinal parasites (Adejinmi & Harrison 1997; Hounzangbe-Adote et al 2005). The gastrointestinal parasitic nematode, Haemonchus contortus, known as the barber pole worm, resides in the gut of sheep and other livestock. It accounts for about 80% of the global parasite afflictions of diseased animals (Arosemena et al 1999) and is notorious for its high pathogenicity (Angulo-Cubillán et al 2010). Gastrointestinal nematodes have traditionally been managed by the use of synthetic anthelmintic compounds (Mendoza de Gives et al 1998). The systematic application of anthelmintic drugs, in an effort to manage infections produced by H. contortus, has led to the emergence of resistant strains (Akhtar et al 2000; Prichard 1994). There have been reports of parasite resistance to anthelmintic drugs in many countries (Melo, Bevilaqua & Reis 2009; Schnyder et al 2005), and multiple anthelmintic resistance has reached extreme levels (TorresAcosta et al 2012)
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