Anthelmintic effects of ethanolic extracts from pomegranate peels, mangosteen peels and tamarind seeds on gastrointestinal nematode egg counts in lambs

Abstract

The anthelmintic drug resistance problems in animal husbandry are widely spread all over the world. The gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep economically impact on the decreasing of live-weight gain and body condition scores and have been recently resistant to many anthelmintics, especially albendazole, levamisole, macrocyclic lactone, moxidectin and ivermectin. Therefore, the herbal medicine is the one of alternative anthelmintic ways to solve chemical resistance and economic problems in small ruminant farms. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peels, mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) peels and tamarind (Tamarindus indica) seeds extracts on gastrointestinal nematode egg counts in lambs comparing with albendazole and ivermectin. The results were shown that ivermectin could not decrease egg counted number significantly, but albendazole could significantly decrease percent of the egg per gram (EPG) when compared with pre-treatment (day 0) at day 1 (68±9%), day 3 (53±10%) and day 7 (62±8%). At day 1, the ethanolic extract of pomegranate peels and tamarind seed were significantly effect on gastrointestinal nematode egg count (47±8% and 48±10%, respectively). EPG were not affected by mangosteen peels extract. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (8-17.8 IU/L), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (88.5-127.3 IU/L), creatinine (0.7-0.9 mg/dl) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (11-18.5 mg/dl) value after treatment were also normal and the lambs did not express any clinical renal or hepatic symptoms. It is concluded that the ethanolic extracts of pomegranate peels, and tamarind seeds possess significant anthelmintic activities at day 1 and could be a potential alternative for management of gastrointestinal roundworm problem in lambs.