Abstract
Increasing resistance against classical anthelmintic drugs makes discovering new anthelmintic compounds from natural plants important. Nigella sativa (N. sativa) is used as a medicinal plant overall the world and is known to have anthelmintic activity. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a common cost-effective model organism that is easily maintained, is useful to determine the anthelmintic activity of new compounds derived from natural products. In our study we aimed to evaluate through toxicity assays the nematocidal activity of N. sativa on C. elegans during its larval and adult stages. Different concentrations of N. sativa oil (900, 450 and 270 mg/mL) were tested and toxicity assessments were done under stereomicroscope by counting the number of surviving nematodes. This study showed that N. sativa essential oil significantly decreases survival of C. elegans in both larval and adult stages at 900 mg/mL final concentration. Larval-stage worms were more sensitive to N. sativa essential oil than were adults. We recommend further studies on other effects of N. sativa on C. elegans after removing the toxic compound(s) from the extract. The further discovery of N. sativa essential oil compounds responsible for anthelmintic activity and determination of their mechanisms of toxicity can pave the way toward new medicines.
Highlights
Soil-Transmitted Helminth (STH) infections are caused by intestinal nematodes
We aimed to test whether C. elegans is a suitable and cost-effective model to study the mechanisms of nematocidal activity of N. sativa or other natural products to facilitate the discovery of new anthelmintic compounds
We aimed to prove the feasibility of C. elegans to investigate the mechanism of the anthelmintic activity of N. sativa oil
Summary
Soil-Transmitted Helminth (STH) infections are caused by intestinal nematodes. One-fourth of the general population worldwide is infected with STH. These diseases are most common in places like tropical and subtropical regions where fresh water and sanitation are deficient. They cause malnutrition, anemia, retardation of development, and mental problems, especially among school-aged children [1, 2]. Nematodes infect farm animals and crops, thereby adversely influencing food production yields and causing economic losses and they may infect domestic pets. Since parasitic infections affect humans in mostly under-developed countries major discoveries of new anthelmintic human medicines arise generally from the veterinary field in developed countries [3]
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