In vitro and in vivo anthelmintic activity of Ferula costata (Kor.) against gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep

摘要

This paper describes the in vitro anthelmintic activity of crude methanol extract (CME) and its n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform and aqueous fractions of Ferula costata (Kor.), against Haemonchus contortus and in vivo activity of crude powder (CP) and CME against mixed culture of GINs. In vitro anthelmintic activity was determined by adult motility assay (AMA) and egg hatch test (EHT) against adult worms and eggs of Haemonchus contortus respectively. For in vivo activity, crude powder (CP) and CME of whole plant were administered to sheep infected with mixed species of GINs @ 1g, 2g & 3g kg-1body weight (b.w) and the activity was estimated by reduction in eggs per gram (EPG) of faeces on days 3, 7 and 14 post treatment (PT). Based on Lethal Concentration 99% (LC99) at 12 hr PT in AMA, the order of the potency of different extracts was exactly similar to the order of fractionation process of CME, i.e. CME showed the best activity (33.47 mg ml-1) followed by hexane (39.77 mg ml-1), ethyl acetate (42.76 mg ml-1), chloroform (67.32 mg ml-1) and aqueous fraction (539.27 mg ml-1), while LC99of positive control (Levamisole) was 1.257 mg ml-1. However, differences between CME, hexane, ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions were non significant while aqueous fraction showed significantly lowest potency. The EHT showed that the activity of CME was at the top (23.08 mg ml-1) and that of chloroform fraction remained at the bottom (100.32 mg ml-1). However, the LC99values of CME and all its fractions in EHT were non-significantly different with each other. Activities of all the extracts were significantly lower than those of positive controls both in AMA and EHT. In vivo administrations revealed that both CP and CME were active to variable extent. The in vivo anthelmintic activity increased with the increase in dose and days PT. Except the first dose of CP (1 g kg-1b.w) which showed non-significant difference at day 3 and 7 PT, all the doses showed significantly different reduction in EPG compared to untreated control at all stages PT. CME @ 3g kg-1exhibited the best activity on day 14 PT (47.90%) but this reduction in EPG was significantly lower than positive control (Levamisole) @7.5mg kg-1b.w. (99.39%). Further in vivo and chemical investigations for accurate adjustment of dose and determination of active principle(s) are suggested.