Anthelmintic activity of preparations derived from Myrsine africana and Rapanea melanophloeos against the nematode parasite, Haemonchus contortus, of sheep

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Abstract

Myrsine africana L. and Rapanea melanophloeos L. belong to the plant family Myrsinaceae. Various rural communities in Kenya, such as smallholder farmers and pastoralists, use them to treat their livestock. The anthelmintic effects/activities of leaves and fruits of M. africana and fruits of R. melanophloeos were tested in sheep experimentally infected with the nematode parasite Haemonchus contortus. Male lambs were infected with 3000–5000 third stage larvae of H. contortus and treated 28 days after inoculation with concoctions made from leaves or fruits of the plants. No significant reduction in faecal nematode egg counts was observed with any of the concoctions at any of the doses tested. Packed red cell volume decreased and live weight increased at similar rates in treated and control groups, thus there was no significant effect of treatment. The results showed that the tested extracts of the M. africana and R. melanophloeos were not efficacious against H. contortus in sheep.

Introduction

A major animal health constraint to livestock production, especially small ruminants, is gastrointestinal nematode infection. The greatest losses associated with nematode parasite infections are sub-clinical, and economic assessments show that financial costs of internal parasitism are enormous due to increase in mortality, and a reduction in growth rate and wool production (McLeod, 1995, Preston and Allonby, 1979). Control of internal parasites often relies on the use of anthelmintic drugs. In Kenya, for instance, there is a widespread dependence, and generally frequent use, of anthelmintics by livestock owners. This is because grazing management strategies, which can extend the effectiveness of drug treatment, cannot be readily practiced due to limited size of land (smallholders) and communal grazing where land is communally owned (pastoralists). Widespread intensive use of sometimes poor quality drugs (Monteiro et al., 1998) has led to development of a high level of multiple anthelmintic resistance in many parts of the developing world (Waller, 1997a). The combination of these factors has stimulated the search for alternative control strategies (Hammond et al., 1997, Newton and Munn, 1999, Niezen et al., 1996, Waller, 1997b). Amongst these strategies is the use of traditional plant remedies. In Kenya, the use of plants as anthelmintics by smallholder farmers and pastoralists is practiced widely (Anonymous, 1996, Wanyama, 1997a, Wanyama, 1997b). This is particularly so in regions of the country where modern anthelmintics may not be available, or, when available, are too expensive for these farmers. The use of plants as anthelmintics could, therefore, be a potential alternative for livestock owners, provided that the reputed efficacy is proven.

Myrsine africana is a small shrub or tree (1–5 m high) that is widespread in Kenya, particularly in upland dry forests and rocky hillsides (Beentje, 1994). Rapanea melanophloeos is an evergreen tree (4–20 m high) that is widespread in upland forests near the edges of moorlands. They both belong to the plant family, Myrsinaceae. There are reports that concoctions made from the bark, roots and fruits of these trees have been widely used as anthelmintics in humans and livestock (Kokwaro, 1993, Beentje, 1994). Particular emphasis of their role for livestock was made by Gachathi (1993), who reported the use of fruits of both plants as anthelmintics in sheep and goats. The use of leaves of M. africana and the fruits of R. melanophloeos as anthelmintics for small stock has also been reported (Anonymous, 1996). The aim of the present study was to validate the anthelmintic/nematodocidal efficacy of M. africana and R. melanophloeos by administration of plant extracts to penned sheep harboring monospecific infections with the nematode parasite Haemonchus contortus.

Section snippets

Animals and monitoring

Male Dorper lambs, 3–4 months old at the time of purchase, were used. After purchase the lambs were moved indoors and given a period of 3 weeks to get used to feeding on pellets and hay. Over this period the animals were dosed with injectable ivermectin (Ivomec®, MSD) at 200 μg/kg live weight (LWT), treated with a long-acting tetracycline at 20 mg/kg LWT (Tenaline LA®, Sanofi) and sprayed with flumethrin (Bayticol®, Bayer), according to manufacturers’ instructions.

Monitoring of nematode

Results

All sheep were healthy and showed no clinical signs of haemonchosis in the first four weeks post-inoculation (PI) with L3. The FECs rose in animals treated with M. africana leaves to levels as high as in the control at the termination of Experiment 1 and there was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the treatment and control groups (Table 2). In lambs treated with M. africana fruits (Experiment 2), FECs decreased two weeks post treatment, but so did FECs in the control lambs. Lower FECs (

Discussion

These experiments were carried out to assess the effectiveness of M. africana leaves and dried fruits and R. melanophloeos fruits against H. contortus infection in sheep. The two plants did not exhibit significant anthelmintic activity as measured by faecal egg count reduction at even the highest dose used of 250 g per animal for either of the plants. Although several authors (Anonymous, 1996, Beentje, 1994, Gachathi, 1993, Kokwaro, 1993) have described that plants belonging to the family

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Intermediate Technology Development Group, East Africa (ITDG-EA) who facilitated the demonstration by Samburu and Turkana healers on the methods of plants preparation. This work is being financially supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida/SAREC). We also wish to acknowledge Dr D. Gray, Dr J. Rowlands and Dr I. Barger for the valuable inputs in the experimental design. This is ILRI publication no. 200152.

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      The Maori, New Zealand natives, use the leaves of Myrsine australis as an analgesic for toothaches (Bloor and Qi, 1994). Myrsine africana, found in Africa, India, Pakistan, central Nepal and China, has also been widely used as an anti-helminthic, especially for the treatment of tapeworm infections, and as a treatment for dropsy, colic, and dysmenorrhoea (Githiori et al., 2002). In China, Ardisia japonica, a plant in this family, has been used as an antitussive, expectorant, antidote, and diuretic (Jiangsu New Medical College, 1978).

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