ABSTRACT
The present study was designed to determine in vitro and in vivo anthelmintic
activity of Lagenaria (L.) siceraria and Albizia (A.) lebbeck against
gastrointestinal helminths of sheep. In vitro anthelmintic activity of crude aqueous
methanolic extract (CAME) of both plants was evaluated against Haemonchus
(H.) contortus and their eggs through adult motility assay (AMA) and egg hatch
test (EHT), respectively. In vivo anthelmintic activity of different concentrations
(1.0-8.0g/kg-1) of crude powder (CP) and CAME of both plants was determined
using faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) in sheep naturally infected with
gastrointestinal helminths. CAME of both plants exhibited strong in vitro
anthelmintic activity and distinct inhibitory effects on hatching of H. contortus
eggs as determined through AMA and EHT. In AMA, the efficacy of A. lebbeck
(3.75 μg/ mL-1) was higher (P≤0.05) as compared to L. siceraria (4.21 μg/mL-1), while
in EHT, L. siceraria (2.53 μg/mL-1) was found more potent (P≤0.05) than A. lebbeck
(2.75 μg/mL-1). However, in vivo, maximum reduction in egg per gram of faeces was
observed as 46.7% and 45.9% with CP and CAME of L. siceraria and as 39.0% and
47% with those of A. lebbeck at 8g/ kg-1 on 15 days post-treatment, respectively.
The present data may indicate that L. siceraria and A. lebbeck contain strong
anthelmintic agent that act either in vivo or in vitro which may justify their
traditional use as ethnoveterinary medicine.