Plants and their medicinal potential for controling gastrointestinal nematodes in ruminants

Abstract

HIGHLIGHTS• Plants with anthelmintic activity may have potential sources of chemical substances that can be used to control gastrointestinal nematodes in ruminants.• The main difficulty of the research with herbal medicines is the lack of in vitro and in vivo correlation with phytotherapic substances activities.• Better understanding the interactions between metabolites and the use of appropriate methodologies to evaluate phytotherapics, may contribute to in vivo results. ABSTRACT:Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) is one of the main sanitary problems of ruminant herds, causing large economic losses to breeders. Chemical control continues to be the main measure used to combat GINs, but as resistant parasite populations spread, the efficiency of this method is becoming impaired. In light of this situation, alternative ways to control verminosis are gaining importance. Among these, phytotherapy has attracted particular attention. This review presents the current status of research on phytotherapeutic agents, their difficulties and perspectives. Plants with nematicidal activity are a potential source of chemical substances, including new molecules, that can be used to control GINs in ruminants. The principal difficulty of research into phytotherapic substances is to identify the bioactive compounds, because in many cases in vitro tests have shown promising results, but in vivo test results have been disappointing. Among the causes is host-drug interaction. Therefore, more careful choice of plants with anthelmintic potential by adoption of a standardized system to analyze the results of in vitro testing, combined with better understanding of the synergistic relations among metabolites and the adjustment of methods for in vivo testing, can make phytotherapy for control of GINs more effective.

Can Agro-Industrial By-Products Rich in Polyphenols be Advantageously Used in the Feeding and Nutrition of Dairy Small Ruminants?

“…Furthermore, the widespread idea is that the use of by-product additives in animal nutrition does not negatively influence animal welfare and that additives, especially additives rich in tannins, can exert an anthelmintic effect in both sheep and in goats [120]. Plants, thanks to their high variety of bioactive substances, have demonstrated an important medicinal potential for controlling gastrointestinal parasites in ruminants [121]. Phytogenic feed additives (plant derived products) are used as animal feed; particularly in swine and poultry, these additives have received increasing attention as they can, to a certain extent, obviate the use of antibiotics [122].…”

Discovery of potential ovicidal natural products using metabolomics

“…Given the economic impact of GIN on cattle [3,4] and considering the increasing difficulty in controlling these parasitic nematodes with traditional anthelmintic drugs, especially H . placei [5,6,7], plant-based agents constitute a promising alternative [8,9,10,11]. Plants extracts are a potential source of new compounds for the control of nematodes [12] and the use of plant-based drugs with anthelmintic activity may be an excellent alternative for controlling GIN in ruminants [9, 11].…”

Small Ruminant Production Based on Rangelands to Optimize Animal Nutrition and Health: Building an Interdisciplinary Approach to Evaluate Nutraceutical Plants

“…Effective concentrations of 50%, 90% and 99% (EC 50 , EC 90 and EC 99 , respectively) are parameters used for assessing or comparing the in vitro bioactivity of many extract partitions or chemical compounds. However, there is a lack of well-established thresholds to consider AH activity against biological stages of ruminants’ GIN [ 151 ]. Based on the experiences of many tests conducted with LDF plants, we think that an EC 50 value of 1000 µg/mL could be consider as the highest threshold to be considered good AH bioactivity.…”