Systematic Review of Phytotherapeutic Treatments for Different Farm Animals Under European Conditions

Abstract

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance is a growing global threat and has aroused a global interest in limiting antibiotic use in animal agriculture. As we are entering the post-antibiotic era, there is a growing need for identifying alternatives to antibiotics for prevention and treatment. Although phytotherapeutic remedies are available and are used in Europe, evidence of their efficacy is currently very limited but is nevertheless still necessary. A systematic review of phytotherapy used for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in farm animals has been conducted using the PICOS approach. Analysis and extraction of information from studies was performed according to a protocol, and included: publication year and source, research body, species, farming system, purpose of application, disease in focus, diagnostic method, remedy used (origin and ingredients of the remedy), producer of remedy, way of administration, study design, and control groups, measure of effect, and outcome of the study. A total of 1,705 papers were screened, but only 44 (comprising 53 independent studies) met the inclusion criteria. The majority of the scientific studies identified show limitations in the study design as well as in presentation and standardization of the botanical remedies studied, which limits the possibilities of drawing firm conclusions. Preventive effect was investigated in 89% of the studies. Half of the studies reported uncertain effects of the botanical remedies on subclinical measures in comparison to a control group. The review highlights unresolved questions such as the need for standardized controlled trials and for improved standardization of the botanical products by analytical methods, such as high-performance liquid chromatography. It is necessary to consider this in order to achieve replicable outcomes and establish efficacy and safety of phytotherapy in farm practice. The manageability of alternative medicine in farm animals also warrants further investigation so as to ascertain whether all necessary preconditions for their use are being granted.

Determination of toxicity indicators and assessment of the sensibilizing action of the preparation for the external use ‘Ointment for wounds’

“…It should be noted that fluctuations in peripheral blood composition were within the reference levels (Trakhtenberg et al, 1991;Abrashova et al, 2013), and the obtained data indicate a possible stimulatory effect of the drug on the organs of hematopoiesis, and the absence of toxic effect when the drug was administered intragastrically.…”

“…In the study of biochemical parameters of white rats' blood, a significant excess of all investigated parameters relative to the control group was established: total protein -by 16.5%, ALP -by 10.1%, ALT -by 12.2%, and AST -by 12.3% (Table 4), however, these indicators were also within the reference levels (Trakhtenberg et al, 1991;Abrashova et al, 2013), which on the one hand indicates the absence of toxic actions for the introduction of the drug 'Ointment for wounds' , and on the other -it stimulates the hepatobiliary system. After calculating the coefficients of the mass of the internal organs, it was found that the coefficient of lung mass was higher than the control by 9.3% (p < 0,05), and the kidney -lower by 10.1%, whereas the values of the coefficients of weight of liver, heart and spleen did not differ from those in the animals of the control group (Table 5), which confirms the absence of toxic action of the drug 'Ointment for wounds' , and indicates the development of adaptogenic processes in the rats of the experimental group.…”

“…Popular multicomponent drugs -derivatives of antibiotics and corticosteroids, do not always act adequately at all levels of the pathological process. Considerable attention of domestic and foreign researchers is focused on the search for highly effective and environmentally safe therapeutic and preventive agents used in skin diseases in animals (Horiuk, 2018;Shaheen, Tantary and Nabi, 2016).…”

“…Recent trend is the use of biologically active components of plant origin as an alternative to antibiotic therapy (Tamminen, Emanuelson and Blanco-Penedo, 2018;Vorobets et al, 2018). Successfully selected combinations of essential oils are often no less effective than synthetic biocides, and the risk of the emergence of resistant strains of microorganisms is reduced (Sobrinho Santos et al, 2019;Queiroga et al, 2018).…”

“…Among the herbal preparations, the essential oils of Siberian pine (Carrión-Prieto et al, 2018;Shpatov et al, 2017), eucalyptus (Adnan, 2019;Harkat-Madouri et al, 2015), clove (Packyanathan andPrakasam, 2017), cedar (Bennouna et al, 2018), tea-tree (Li et al, 2016;Smith et al, 2014) and oil solution of chlorophyllite have the above mentioned pharmacological characteristics. The possibility to combine the diverse properties of plants in a single therapeutic agent based on the listed above essential oils and oil solution of chlorophyllite became the basis for the creation of an experimental drug in the form of ointment.…”