A possible shortcut in protecting animals against nematode infestations

Nematodes such as Haemonchus contortus limit the production of sheep in many parts of the world. The use of chemical anthelmintics such as albendazole has led to the development of resistance. Traditional use of plants against parasites has been used to investigate alternative treatments [1]. The assays used involve testing the effect of extracts on hatching or larval development of nematode eggs obtained from infected sheep. These assays are time consuming and require experience.

Benzimidazoles such as albendazole are active against nematodes and fungi. To determine the antifungal activity of plant extracts and to isolate the active compounds by column chromatography and bioautography is relatively easy. We determined the anthelmintic activity of 13 plants used traditionally [1]. I removed three species where the traditional uses for anthelmintic activity were not clear and determined the antifungal activity of acetone leaf extracts of these 10 species and the correlation of antifungal activity with ED₅₀ of egg hatch and larval development assays. There was some correlation between egg hatching and antifungal activity (R²=0.458), but a reasonably good correlation between larval development ED₅₀ and antifungal activity (R²=0.819).

This may mean that the compounds inhibiting larval development may also have antifungal activity. By investigating plants with high antifungal activity, extracts and compounds with high anthelmintic activity may be discovered.

 

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Conflict of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

• References

• 1 Adamu et al. BMC Veterinary Research 2013, 9:38 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/9/38)

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
16. November 2023