In Vivo Anthelminthic Activity of <i>Ceratotheca sesamoïdes</i> Endl Whole Plant Powder

Abstract

Small ruminants are an important lever for livestock production in Burkina Faso. With a numerically important livestock population, small ruminants contribute to the fight against poverty and participate greatly in the country's economy. Despite its importance, the development of small ruminant breeding is strongly hindered by parasitic diseases due to gastrointestinal nematodes. The appearance of parasite resistance to anthelmintic molecules makes the treatment of gastrointestinal parasitosis more and more problematic. In order to provide rural farmers with an effective and accessible biological alternative, <i>C. sesamoïdes</i> whole plant powder in vivo anthelmintic efficacy was tested on mossi sheep artificially infested. Mossi sheep was artificially infested with 3200 L3 larvae of <i>H. contortus</i> 30 days before the beginning of the experiment. Two (2) treated batches of 6 sheep each received respectively 14g/kg of body weight and 7g/kg of body weight while one negative control batch of 6 sheep without treatment and one positive batch of 6 sheep treated with levamisole were constituted during the 21 days of experimentation. The Fecal Eggs Count (FEC) reduction rate was high during treatment and reached 87.08% and 74.91% at D21 respectively for the dose of 14g/kg body weight and 7g/kg body weight. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between the two doses tested and between the two doses and the positive control, whereas the difference was significant (P<0.05) compared to the negative control. The animal’ weight evolution was not significant (P>0.05) compared to the negative control. The mean hematocrit level varied between D0 (27.66) and D21 (30.5) for the 14g/kg body weight dose while that of the animals treated with the 7g/kg body weight dose decreased slightly between D0 (27.33) and D21 (26.66). Biochemical blood tests show no suspicion of hepatic and renal impairment. Thus, <i>C. sesamoïdes</i> could be used as an alternative for the treatment of small ruminant’s gastrointestinal nematodes in the form of whole plant powder in Burkina Faso.