Assessment of the anthelmintic activity of medicinal plant extracts and purified condensed tannins against free-living and parasitic stages of Oesophagostomum dentatum

Andrew R Williams,Honorata M Ropiak,Christos Fryganas,Olivier Desrues,Stig M Thamsborg,Irene Mueller-Harvey

doi:10.1186/preaccept-6398159631419553

Andrew R Williams, Honorata M Ropiak + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/preaccept-6398159631419553

Copy DOI

Abstract

Assessment of the anthelmintic activity of medicinal plant extracts and purified condensed tannins against free-living and parasitic stages of Oesophagostomum dentatum

Highlights

Plant-derived condensed tannins (CT) show promise as a complementary option to treat gastrointestinal helminth infections, reducing reliance on synthetic anthelmintic drugs
It is apparent that CT can have anthelmintic effects; reduced worm burdens have been reported in rats administered CT in the diet, or in livestock grazing forages containing CT [13,14]
In the present study we investigated 1) whether CT have direct anthelmintic activity against O. dentatum in vitro, and 2) which stages of the life cycle of this parasite were targeted by CT

Summary

Introduction

Plant-derived condensed tannins (CT) show promise as a complementary option to treat gastrointestinal helminth infections, reducing reliance on synthetic anthelmintic drugs. Control of helminths relies almost exclusively on a limited number of synthetic anthelmintic drugs The limitations of this reliance on chemotherapy are the threat of parasites developing resistance to drug treatment (already widespread in some livestock production systems) [4,5] , the cost of drugs for small-scale farmers in developing countries and for some helminths, lack of efficacy of current available drugs [1]. Proanthocyanidins are a diverse and widely-occurring group of compounds, and consist of polymers of either catechin and/or epicatechin (termed procyanidins - PC), or of gallocatechin and/or epigallocatechin (termed prodelphinidins - PD), with hetero-polymers being common [10] They are found in plant material from both tropical and temperate areas, and have been widely investigated for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties [11,12]. Much work remains to be done to establish the spectra of activity of CT, i.e. the range of helminth species that are susceptible, and what stages of the life cycle are targeted by these molecules

Methods

Results

Conclusion