The use of Eucalyptus staigeriana nanoemulsion for control of sheep haemonchosis

Abstract

Sustainable control of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in small ruminants has been based on the use of alternative methods, including targeted selective treatment, such as FAMACHA. Another GIN control alternative is the use of herbal medicines, although in many cases their use is based on empirical knowledge. Biopolymer nanoformulations has been investigated to maximize the essential oil effects against sheep gastrointestinal nematodes. The aim of the present study was to combine a Eucalyptus staigeriana essential oil nanoemulsion (EsNano) with FAMACHA as an alternative control for sheep haemonchosis. The study was performed over six months at a commercial sheep farm located in a semiarid region of Northeast Brazil. Initially, a fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) in sheep with levamisole, ivermectin and oxfendazole in sheep was performed used to determine the most effective anthelmintic to use as the positive control. Levamisole has been selected because it showed efficacy superior to 95%. EsNano was obtained and then its physicochemical properties were characterized. The average (±SE) size of the particles in the nanoemulsion was 276.8 (±12.3) nm with bimodal distribution and polydispersity. Nine visits were performed, from April to September 2013, with an interval of 17 days. One hundred sixty-two male and female sheep were divided into three groups (n=54 each) and were treated when FAMACHA score was 3, 4, or 5: G-EsNano 250mg kg -1 EsNano; G-Lev 7.5mg kg -1 levamisole (positive control), and G-Neg was not treated (negative control). Feces from sheep were collected to quantify the number of eggs per gram of feces (epg) and to identify nematode genera. Sheep weight gain was monitored. The epg data for each group and the average sheep weight gains were analyzed by variance analysis and compared with the Tukey's test (P<0.05). Significant difference between the number of animals treated with EsNano and levamisole was not observed in any visit (P>0.05). The epg variation was similar in the G-EsNano and G-Lev groups on visits (P>0.05), except the second and fifth evaluation in the epg groups were significantly different (P<0.05). Haemonchus spp. was the most prevalent nematode. There was no significant weight gain in any of the treated groups (P<0.05). The combination of phytotherapy and FAMACHA can be an alternative to minimize the use of synthetic anthelmintics to control resistant GIN populations of small ruminants.

Anthelmintic activity of nanoencapsulated carvacryl acetate against gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep and its toxicity in rodents

“…The control of gastrointestinal nematodes that are resistant and/or multiresistant to synthetic anthelmintics is one of the great challenges of sheep and goat breeding worldwide. The use of nanostructured bioactive compounds has been highlighted as a promising alternative to be used in the integrated management of these nematodes (Mesquita et al, 2013;Ribeiro et al, 2013Ribeiro et al, , 2015Ribeiro et al, , 2017.…”

“…The nanoencapsulation of bioactive compounds has been used as an alternative to protect drugs and promote a sustained release in animals, increasing bioavailability and maximizing the nematicidal effect (Zhao et al, 2010;Ribeiro et al, 2014;Ribeiro et al, 2017). The polyelectrolyte complex is a technique used for the nanoencapsulation of bioactive compounds by mixing oppositely charged polymers in solutions (Minkal et al, 2018).…”

Essential Oils and Their Bioactive Compounds in the Control of Gastrointestinal Nematodes of Small Ruminants

“…A composição do OE é um dos fatores que podem interferir na sua atividade anti-helmíntica. Estudos que avaliaram o efeito do OE de Eucalyptus staigeriana sobre NGI identificaram o limoneno [62,84] ou o geranial [82,83] como compostos majo-ritários. Já o OE de Piper aduncum quando avaliado sobre H. contortus apresentou como composto majoritário o eucaliptol [71] ou o dilapiol [25].…”

“…O OE de E. staigeriana nanoencapsulado com quitosana apresentou efeito semelhante ao levamisol no controle integrado de NGI de ovinos, utilizando o Famacha. O experimento foi realizado durante 6 meses em uma fazenda na região semiárida do nordeste brasileiro [83]. Porém, a avaliação de produtos naturais, especificamente OE livres e nanoencapsulados, em condições epidemiológicas diferentes é fundamental para validar o potencial anti-helmíntico dos OE nanoencapsulados.…”

Profiling the Variability of Eucalyptus Essential Oils with Activity against the Phylum Nematoda

“…Information on the Eucalyptus species and EO composition (≥1%) was collected when available. A total of 17 publications was retrieved reporting on the nematicidal activity of eucalypt EOs [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. These reports were published in journals dedicated to Parasitology (60%), Veterinary Sciences (47%) and Agronomy (20%).…”