Anthelmintic effects of Salix babylonica L. and Leucaena leucocephala Lam. extracts in growing lambs

Abstract

Twenty Katahdin × Pelibuey crossbreed male lambs, 3 to 4 months of age and 24 ± 0.3 kg of body weight, were used to study the anthelmintic effects of administering extracts of Salix babylonica L. (SB) and Leucaena leucocephala Lam. (LL). Lambs had not been treated with anthelmintics previously and were randomly allocated into four groups of five lambs each in a completely randomized design. Treatments were as follows: control (lambs fed on total mixed ration without extracts), SB (as control plus S. babylonica L. extract at 30 ml/day), LL (as control plus L. leucocephala Lam. extract at 30 ml/day), and SBLL (as control plus 30 ml/day of S. babylonica L. and L. leucocephala Lam. extracts in a 1:1 (v/v) mixture) for 63 days. Extracts were orally administered before the 8:00 a.m. feeding to each lamb. Rectal fecal samples were collected from each lamb at day 22 (P1), day 43 (P2), and day 63 (P3) of the experiment. Adult worm and egg counts were determined in each fecal sample immediately after collection. Plant secondary metabolites of total phenolics, saponins, and the aqueous fraction were 50 % lower in the SB versus LL extracts. Overall, the oral administration of extracts has improved the egg and worm count reductions in lamb feces by 54, 47, and 40 % for LL, SB, and SBLL, respectively, versus the control lambs. Reductions of worm egg counts in lamb feces were higher (P < 0.05) in P2 and P3 versus P1. Extracts of SB and LL or possibly isolated bioactive compounds could be a promising alternative to conventional anthelmintics to treat gastrointestinal parasites of small ruminants. Such treatments could be used in control strategies against gastrointestinal nematodes in organic and conventional production systems.

Importance of sheep social hierarchy on feeding behavior and parasite load in silvopastoral and grass monoculture grazing systems

“…Favoreciendo los crecimientos acelerados, mayor resistencia a infecciones, ausencia de anemia (reflejada en el hematocrito), letargia, incremento de la frecuencia respiratoria, y disminuye los índices de mortalidad por deficiencia del elemento (46) . Por otra parte, L. leucocephala posee metabolitos secundarios (fenoles totales y saponinas), que al ofrecerse en la dieta de los ovinos, fomenta la reducción del número de huevecillos de nematodos gastrointestinales (47) , mostrando un efecto inhibitorio >50% (a concentraciones de 100 mg/ml) sobre las larvas de la tercera etapa (L3) (48) .…”

Actividad antibacteriana y sobre nematodos gastrointestinales de metabolitos secundarios vegetales: enfoque en Medicina Veterinaria

“…Por otra parte en el control de los nematodos gastrointestinales se ha propuesto la herbolaria como alternativa, de acuerdo al análisis de los compuestos en diferentes plantas, los taninos son los que intervienen en funciones vitales de los nematodos afectando la movilidad, la nutrición y, posiblemente, la reproducción (Medina et al, 2014) por lo que han recibido gran atención y han sido propuestas como método de control de nematodos gastrointestinales en ovinos y caprinos (Durmic y Blache, 2012, Hernandez et al, 2014. Las plantas taniníferas pueden tener una actividad antiparasitaria directa pero también podrían tener un efecto indirecto a través de mejorar la respuesta inmune de los animales contra los nematodos gastrointestinales (Hoste et al, 2005).…”

The first assessment of the stress inducible defense of Leucaena leucocephala with acaricidal potential effect against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Acari: Ixodidae)

“…L. leucocephala is a tannin-rich plant with anti-parasitic activity against ticks and nematodes; almost all studies on this plant have focused on secondary metabolites (CUNHA et al, 2003;ALONSO-DÍAZ et al, 2008;AHMED et al, 2010;OLIVEIRA et al, 2011;FERNÁNDEZ-SALAS et al, 2011;HERNANDEZ et al, 2014;SOARES et al, 2015).…”