Haemonchus contortus: in vitro and in vivo anthelmintic activity of aqueous and hydro-alcoholic extracts of Hedera helix.

In vitro anthelmintic activity of crude extracts of the ripe fruits of Hedera helix was investigated on eggs and adult nematode parasites Haemonchus contortus. Aqueous extract of H. helix was also evaluated for in vivo anthelmintic activity at dose of 1.13 and 2.25 g/kg in sheep artificially infected with H. contortus. ED(50) for egg hatch inhibition was 0.12 and 0.17 mg/ml for aqueous and hydro-alcoholic extracts, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the activity of the two extract types (p>0.05). Hydro-alcoholic extract showed better in vitro activity against adult parasites compared to the aqueous extract. Significant faecal egg count reduction (FECR) was detected in groups treated with both doses of H. helix (p<0.05) on day 2 post-treatment. On day 7 post-treatment significant reduction was detected only for higher dose of H. helix (p<0.05) while on day 14 post-treatment there was no significant FECR in both groups treated with H. helix. The percentage of larvae recovered from culturing faeces obtained from groups of sheep treated with lower and higher doses of H. helix was 47.52% and 36.07%, respectively, which was significantly lower than (p<0.05) that recovered from the control group (60%). Significant (p<0.05), dose dependent total worm count reduction (WCR) was observed for groups of sheep treated with H. helix. Increasing the dose of H. helix improved the efficacy against the male than the female parasites. Treatment with both doses of H. helix helped the animals maintain their packed cell volume (PCV) unlike the untreated control group. The overall findings of the current study indicated that H. helix has a potential anthelmintic benefit and further in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the different parts and fractions is needed to make use of this plant for therapeutic purposes.