Anthelmintic properties of traditional African and Caribbean medicinal plants: identification of extracts with potent activity against Ascaris suum in vitro.

Andrew R Williams,Anna K Jäger,Jens Soelberg

doi:10.1051/parasite/2016024

Andrew R Williams, Anna K Jäger + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2016024

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Abstract

Ascariasis affects more than 1 billion people worldwide, mainly in developing countries, causing substantial morbidity. Current treatments for Ascaris infection are based on mass drug administration (MDA) with synthetic anthelmintic drugs such as albendazole, however continual re-infection and the threat of drug resistance mean that complementary treatment options would be highly valuable. Here, we screened ethanolic extracts from 29 medicinal plants used in Africa (Ghana) and the Caribbean (US Virgin Islands) for in vitro anthelmintic properties against Ascaris suum, a swine parasite that is very closely related to the human A. lumbricoides. A wide variety of activities were seen in the extracts, from negligible to potent. Extracts from Clausena anisata, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides and Punica granatum were identified as the most potent with EC50 values of 74, 97 and 164 μg/mL, respectively. Our results encourage further investigation of their use as complementary treatment options for ascariasis, alongside MDA.

Highlights

Soil-transmitted helminths remain one of the largest burdens on global health
A. lumbricoides infections are treated through mass drug administration (MDA) programmes, involving annual or bi-annual treatment of school children, mainly with
Williams et al.: Parasite 2016, 23, 24 albendazole [12]. The sustainability of this approach has been questioned due to continual re-infection, arising from the hard-shelled eggs which survive for many years in the environment, and the ever-present threat of drug resistance, where cautionary tales can be drawn from the critical levels of resistance that have arisen in helminths of veterinary importance due to mass administration of synthetic drugs [11, 13, 23]

Summary

Introduction

Soil-transmitted helminths remain one of the largest burdens on global health. Altogether, Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) and Necator americanus (hookworm) infect more than a billion people, mainly in the developing world [20, 24]. A. lumbricoides infections are treated through mass drug administration (MDA) programmes, involving annual or bi-annual treatment of school children, mainly with. Ascaris suum is a swine parasite and closely related parasite to A. lumbricoides, being morphologically indistinguishable, and for many years the human and pig forms of Ascaris were considered to be a single species [16]. We have previously used a combination of motility and migration inhibition assays to test for in vitro anthelmintic effects of a number of compounds against A. suum L3 [25]. The day, the media were collected from each well and the number of larvae that had migrated from the setting agar was enumerated by light microscopy

Materials and methods

Results and discussion

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