Evaluation of the anthelminthic potential of traditional medicinal plant extracts (original) (raw)
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Phytochemicals as cure of worm infections in traditional medicine systems
Emerging trends in zoology …, 2011
Helminthic infections continue to be the major health hazard to the people, especially those living in tropical developing countries. Although these infections do not cause significant morbidity and mortality when compared with many other parasitic infections, they do cause substantial, but often less measurable effects. For example, infections with gastrointestinal helminths often lead to malabsorbtion, diarrhoea, anaemia and other states of poor health, particularly in infants and school-age children. Though there are several synthetic anthelmintics available at the present time against these parasites, the fact remains that a large proportion of the world's population still does not have access to, or cannot afford to pay for modern medicines, particularly in remote rural areas in poor countries. Besides, the continued usage of current anthelmintic drugs is also posing a major problem of drug resistance in several parasite species. There is thus an urgent need for newer and inexpensive drugs that are able to act for longer periods before resistance sets in. In this context, traditional medicines, based largely on medicinal plants, offer a major and accessible source of health care to people living in developing countries.
Anthelmintic screening of Sub-Saharan African plants used in traditional medicine
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2010
Aim of study: This study screened for anthelmintic activity of plant species traditionally used in the treatment of intestinal parasites and their symptoms in Sub-Saharan Africa in an effort to confirm their local use and aid in the search for new compounds since resistance is a growing concern. Materials and methods: Aqueous and organic extracts of 33 plant parts from 17 plant species traditionally used in the treatment of intestinal infections in Sub-Saharan Africa were evaluated for their anthelmintic activity. This activity was assessed using a standard motility assay against a levamisole resistant strain of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Results and conclusions: Anthelmintic activity was confirmed in 12 plant species. Of these, eight showed strong evidence of activity (p < 0.0001), one exhibited moderate evidence of activity (p < 0.001), three demonstrated weak evidence of activity (p < 0.05), and five plants showed no evidence of activity. The eight species with the strongest evidence of activity were Acacia polyacantha, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Bridelia micrantha, Cassia sieberiana, Combretum nigricans, Grewia bicolor, Strychnos spinosa and Ziziphus mucronata. In only two cases, Anogeissus leiocarpus and Cassia sieberiana, anthelmintic activity has been previously confirmed. The activity demonstrated against the levamisole resistant strain of Caenorhabditis elegans and the presence of molecules in these plants known or suspected of having a broad spectrum of activity provide support for further study of these plants and their compounds as possible treatments for parasitic worm infections.
Anthelmintic Activity of Extracts of Some Medicinal Plants
2011
Development of anthelmintic resistance and high cost of conventional anthelmintic drugs led to the evaluation of medicinal plants has an alternative source of anthelmintics. In the current study, experiments were conducted to evaluate the possible anthelmintic effects of crude alcoholic extracts of Clitoria ternatea Linn., Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. and Madhuca indica Gmel. using Pheretima Posthuma. Various concentrations (25, 50, 100mg/ml) of all extracts were tested and results were expressed in terms of time for paralysis and time for death of worms. Piperazine citrate (10 mg/ml) was used as a reference standard and distilled water as a control group. Dose dependent activity was observed in all plant extracts but Madhuca indica shows more activity as compared to Clitoria ternatea and Guazuma ulmifolia.
Anthelmintic screening of some Plants used in Traditional Medicine
In Indian medicinal plant literature, leaves of Annona squamosa, Annona reticulata Balanites aegyptica Caesalpinia bonducella, Cleome gynandra and Diplocyclos palmatus have been traditionally reported to be used as anthelmintics. Hence, it is essential to examine these plant species for anthelmintic potential to support traditional claim. The present study was carried out to determine and compare anthelmintic efficacies of these plants against the commercially available anthelmintic drug, nitazoxamide. Ethanol extracts of leaves of all studied plants were examined for anthelmintic activity against Indian adult earthworm. All extracts demonstrated highly significant dose-dependent anthelmintic activity at tested concentrations of 10, 20, 50 mg/ml, compared with reference standard nitazoxamide. In conclusion, all studied plants have potential application in the treatment of helminthes infections. The results of this study also validated the basis for the traditional use of these plants as anthelmintics in Indian medicine.
Anthelmintic Activity of Some Medicinal Plants: A Short Review
2019
Medicinal plants are one of the best natural sources of pharmacological activities with less side effects but possess less efficacy compared to synthetic medicines. Parasitic helminths cause huge health issues for mankind and livestock and major economic loss by declined livestock production. Many crude drugs were proved to possess anthelminthic activity in traditional systems and used by many ethnic groups throughout the world, are screened for anthelmintic activity by invitro and invivo screening models. This present review presents some medicinal plants which possess vermifuge and vermicidal activity proved scientifically by using preclinical screening methods and there is need for further investigation to develop a lead molecule for novel herbal products.
Schistosomiasis and trichuriasis are two of the most common neglected tropical diseases (NTD) that affect almost a billion people worldwide. There is only a limited number of effective drugs to combat these NTD. Medicinal plants are a viable source of parasiticides. In this study, we have investigated six of the 19 phytochemicals isolated from two Bhutanese medicinal plants, Corydalis crispa and Pleurospermum amabile, for their anthelmintic properties. We used the xWORM technique and Scanning Electron Microscope-based imaging to determine the activity of the compounds. Of the six compounds tested, isomyristicin and bergapten showed significant anthelmintic activity against Schistosoma mansoni and Trichuris muris with bergapten being the most efficacious compound one against both parasites (S. mansoni IC 50 = 8.6 μg/mL and T. muris IC 50 = 10.6 μg/mL) and also against the schistosomulum stage of S. mansoni. These two compounds induced tegumental damage to S. mansoni and affected the cuticle, bacillary bands and bacillary glands of T. muris. The efficacy against multiple phylogenetically distinct parasites and different life stages, especially the schistosomulum where praziquantel is ineffective, makes isomyristicin and bergapten novel scaffolds for broad-spectrum anthelmintic drug development that could be used for the control of helminths infecting humans and animals. Schistosomiasis and trichuriasis are major contributors to the disease burden in both humans and domestic animals , affecting the social and economic progress of many developing countries 1–3. There are no vaccines, and only a handful of anthelmintic drugs exist to treat these infections. The development of drug-resistant helminths of livestock has been reported, and there is a looming threat of resistance for the few human drugs that are currently used in mass drug administration programs in developing countries 4–6. This has necessitated the discovery of lead compounds and development of new anthelmintic drugs. Natural products, especially medicinal plants, have a bewildering diversity of allelochemicals with unusual structures and have been a reliable source of chemotherapeutic moieties 7 , including for anthelmintic drug discovery. For example, artemisinin and its derivatives (artemether) isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant, Artemesia annua, have a unique trioxane structure that is an essential frontline antimalarial drug which also has anti-schistosome and anti-cancer properties 8–9. Another new antimalarial drug lead candidate, simplicifolianine, has been discovered from Meconopsis simplicifolia 10. Despite their proven reputation as a source of antimalar-ials, plants have been relatively under-explored as a source of anthelmintic compounds. Athanasiadou et al. 11 described a number of plants with anthelmintic properties under controlled experimentation, either through feeding of whole plant or plant extracts to parasitised hosts. While some plant extracts have strong bioactivi-ties, even against drug-resistant worms, the use of crude extracts is fraught with complexity in terms of dose standardisation and mechanism of drug action. Crude plant extracts contain mixtures of allelochemicals, which may have synergistic, antagonistic or even superimposed bioactivities. For this reason, isolating, quantifying and identifying the bioactive compounds in plant extracts is a prerequisite for drug discovery and will accelerate the development of new generations of anthelmintic compounds. Drawing inspiration from Bhutanese traditional medicine (BTM) we explored the anthelmintic properties of two medicinal plants – Corydalis crispa and Pleurospermum amabile, against S. mansoni and T. muris. These
Journal of Parasitic Diseases, 2014
A large number of medicinal plants are used as herbal remedy for the treatment of helminthic diseases in the developing countries, however, far too little attention has been paid to assess the anthelmintic potentials of chemical compounds that are present in these plants. This study was carried out to assess the in vitro anthelmintic effects of biochanin A, ursolic acid, betulinic acid and betasitosterol which are the major phytochemicals of Trifolium repens, Houttuynia cordata and Lasia spinosa, the traditionally used anthelmintic plants of Northeast India. The in vitro anthelmintic testing of these phytochemicals was undertaken against Hymenolepis diminuta, a zoonotic tapeworm, and their efficacy was compared with a reference drug, praziquantel. The results revealed that except beta-sitosterol, which showed a very weak anthelmintic effect, remaining all other tested compounds possess highly significant (p B 0.001) and dose-dependent anthelmintic effects. Upon exposure to 0.25, 0.50 and 1 mg/ml concentrations of biochanin A, ursolic acid and betulinic acid, the test parasite H. diminuta, at first, showed a paralyzed state which later culminated into their mortality after short time periods. Of all the phytochemicals tested, betulinic acid (1 mg/ml) showed the best anthelmintic effect and caused the mortality of test parasites at 3.4 ± 0.66 h. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate for the first time that betulinic acid, biochanin A and ursolic acid possess significant in vitro anthelmintic effects against H. diminuta, a zoonotic tapeworm, and, therefore, these compounds may be exploited further for anthelmintic drug development.
Advanced Review on Anthelmintic Medicinal Plants
Medicinal plants have played a central part in combating many ailments in human and livestock in many indigenous communities including Africa. In Ethiopia, it is also played a significant role in treating health problems. Ethno veterinary medicine refers to people's beliefs, knowledge, skills and practices relating to care of the animals. Helminthosis is one of the major problems of livestock production throughout the world, particularly in tropical and subtropical areas. The disease is especially prevalent in developing countries in association with poor management practices and inadequate control measures. Different parts of anthelmintic plants are used for varies parasitic diseases and disease conditions for example, extracts of Hagenia abyssinica, leaves of Myrsine Africana, Rhus glabrous, Jasminum abysinicum, Rhus vulgaris, Acokanthera schimperi have anthelmintic activities. However, these plants are suffering from several threats due to a number of natural and anthropogeni...
Anthelmintic Agents from African Medicinal Plants: Review and Prospects
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Soil-transmitted helminthiasis affects more than 1.5 billion people globally and largely remains a sanitary problem in Africa. These infections place a huge economic burden on poor countries and affect livestock production, causing substantial economic losses and poor animal health. The emergence of anthelmintic resistance, especially in livestock, and the potential for its widespread in humans create a need for the development of alternative therapies. Medicinal plants play a significant role in the management of parasitic diseases in humans and livestock, especially in Africa. This report reviews anthelmintic studies that have been conducted on medicinal plants growing in Africa and published within the past two decades. A search was made in various electronic databases, and only full articles in English were included in the review. Reports show that aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts and polar fractions obtained from these crude extracts form the predominant (80%) form of the ex...