Anthelmintic Activity of Vernonia anthelmintica. Seeds Against Trichostrongylid Nematodes of Sheep

Abstract

This paper describes comparative in vitro. and in vivo. anthelmintic activities of Vernonia anthelmintica. (L.) Willd. (Compositae) seeds and levamisole. In vitro. studies revealed higher anthelmintic effects (p ≥ 0.05) of crude methanol extract (CME) as compared with crude aqueous extract (CAE) of V. anthelmintica. seeds on live Haemonchus. contortus. as evident from their mortality. For in vivo. studies, seeds of V. anthelmintica. were administered as crude powder (CP), CAE, and CME to sheep naturally infected with mixed species of gastrointestinal nematodes. In vivo., maximum reduction (73.9%) in fecal egg counts per gram (EPG) was recorded in sheep treated with V. anthelmintica. CAE at 3 g kg−1 body weight on day 5 post-treatment (PT) followed by CP at 3 g kg−1 (55.6%) on day 3 PT. However, CME did not exhibit anthelmintic activity in vivo.. It was found that whereas V. anthelmintica. seeds possess anthelmintic activity against nematodes, it was not comparable to levamisole (97.8% to 100% reduction in EPG). It may be suggested that further research on a large scale be carried out with a large number of animals on higher doses than those used in the current study; for the identification of active principles; and for standardization of the doses and toxicity studies for drug development.