Abstract
Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) are the major limiting factor for the successfulness of livestock production throughout the world. Emergence of resistance strains as well as scarcity and high cost of the currently available drugs has led to the evaluation of other alternative helminth control options, mainly from plants. The current study is aimed at investigating the in vitro anthelmintic efficacy of crude methanolic extracts of two traditionally important medicinal plants, Artemisia herba-alba and Punica granatum, against Haemonchus contortus using adult motility assay (AMA) and egg hatch inhibition assay (EHIA). Four graded concentrations of the extracts were tested for both the AMA (10, 5, 2.5, and 1.25 mg/mg) and EHIA (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 mg/mL) in replicates. Albendazole and phosphate-buffered saline (AMA) or distilled water (EHIA) were used as the positive and negative controls, respectively. The crude extracts of A. herba-alba and P. granatum exhibited a potential anthelmintic activity at all dose levels in a concentration- and time-dependent fashion. The highest concentration (10 mg/mL) of all the extracts caused a significantly (p < 0.05) superior nematocidal activity compared to the negative control. Moreover, significant and concentration-dependent egg hatching inhibition effect was observed from both plant extracts. Maximal (98.67%) egg hatching inhibition effect was exhibited by the flower extract of A. herba-alba at 1 mg/mL concentration. The relative egg hatch inhibition efficacy indicated that both plants caused a significantly (p < 0.05) greater egg hatch inhibition within 48 hr of exposure. The current study validated the traditional use of both plants as a natural anthelmintic against H. contortus justifying a need to undertake detail pharmacological and toxicological investigation on both plants.
Highlights
Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) remain a major threat to the health and welfare of small ruminants throughout the world [1]
The present study indicated that all concentrations of methanolic flower and aerial part extracts of A. herba-alba as well as the highest concentration of methanolic peel extract of P. granatum produced a relatively comparable anthelmintic activity with the conventional anthelmintic agent, albendazole (Figure 1)
This finding is in line with the clinical study that confirmed the efficacy of the plant against nematodes in calves [25] and superior to an in vitro study that reported a moderate level of anthelmintic activity from the rind of P. granatum [26]
Summary
Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) remain a major threat to the health and welfare of small ruminants throughout the world [1]. Haemonchus contortus is an important abomasal helminth of small ruminants responsible for disease and major production losses worldwide [5] It is one of the major livestock parasites in tropical and temperate farming areas [6]. H. contortus is a highly pathogenic parasite of small ruminants and is capable of causing acute disease and high mortality in all classes of stock [7]. Heavy burdens of this blood-feeding parasite can cause severe anemia and rapid death in affected livestock [5]. It was reported to be one of the top ten constraints of sheep and goat production in East Africa [7]
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