In vivo anthelmintic efficacy of Aloe ferox, Agave sisalana, and Gunnera perpensa in village chickens naturally infected with Heterakis gallinarum

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the anthelmintic efficacy of Aloe ferox, Agave sisalana, and Gunnera perpensa against Heterakis gallinarum in village chickens. The chickens naturally infected with H. gallinarum were randomly divided into 14 groups of eight chickens and orally administered distilled water (negative control), mebendazole (positive control), and graded levels (50-, 100-, 200-, and 400-mg/kg doses) of the three plant extracts. At days 0, 7, and 14, the floatation technique was used to determine fecal egg counts and H. gallinarum worms from chicken ceca were counted at days 0 and 14. Egg count reduction percentage (ECR%) was high at day 7 for all the test materials except for A. sisalana (100 mg/kg) that had 33%. At day 14, ECR% was high for all the other test materials save for A. ferox (200 mg/kg), mebendazole, and distilled water which was 50, 32, and 50%, respectively. A. ferox (200 mg/kg), G. perpensa (200 and 400 mg/kg), and A. sisalana (50 and 100 mg/kg) had the highest (85, 78, 74, 86, and 73%, respectively) worm count reduction percentage. The plants had anthelmintic properties. Advocacy and utilization of these plants in improving the health of village chickens could lead to increased productivity, boosting profits for the poultry industry thereby enabling it to meet the supply of animal protein and enhance livelihoods. It is imperative to determine compounds in the crude extracts of these medicinal plants which are responsible for the anthelmintic activities and their mechanism of action.

From Traditional Usage to Pharmacological Evidence: Systematic Review of Gunnera perpensa L.

“…While some of the listed pharmacological activities may not relate directly to the ethnomedicinal uses of G. perpensa , they may provide some insight into its potential therapeutic value and bioactive properties. The bioactive properties that have been reported so far based on G. perpensa crude extracts include acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme inhibition [35, 60], anthelmintic [61, 62], antibacterial [27, 32, 58, 60, 63–65], antifungal [32, 58, 60, 63], antinociceptive [66], anti-inflammatory [58, 60, 65, 66], antioxidant [54, 65], antitumour [67], lactogenic [35], and uterotonic [21, 59] properties.…”

“…At days 7 and 14, G. perpensa had egg count reduction percentage ranging from 71 to 100%, signifying that the species has remarkable anthelmintic properties and has long-acting effects on Heterakis gallinarum in the system of the chickens. At 200 and 400 mg/kg doses, G. perpensa had worm count reduction of 78 and 74%, respectively [62]. …”

Study of antidiarrheal and anthelmintic activity methanol extract of Commelina benghalensis leaves

“…Anthelmintic medications act quickly and specifically on neuromuscular transmission of nematodes. Three major groups of helminths (worms), the nematodes, trematodes, and cestodes-infect human (Mwale and Masika 2015;Pawluk et al, 2015;Romero et al, 2014).…”

Bioactive constituents of the genus Aloe and their potential therapeutic and pharmacological applications: A review

“…It has also been used for the treatment of infectious diseases such as syphilis and candida. The latest reports that have been published credit A. ferox for having anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory properties (Kambizi and Afolayan, 2008;Loots et al, 2011;Mwale and Masika, 2014).…”