Elsevier

Veterinary Parasitology

Volume 263, 15 November 2018, Pages 59-65
Veterinary Parasitology

Research paper
Chemical analyses and anthelmintic effects of Artemisia campestris essential oil

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2018.10.003Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The chemical composition was analysed by gaz chromatography/mass chromatography (GC/MS).

  • The in vitro anthelmintic activities were performed using egg hatch assay and adult worm’s assay compared with albendazole.

  • The dose of 5000 mg/kg showed a high nematicidal activity (72.1% FECR and 72% TWCR).

  • A. campestris essential oil has a potential anthelmintic activity and further studies are required in order to establish its mechanisms of action.

Abstract

The present study aimed at analyzing the chemical composition and evaluating the in vitro and in vivo anthelmintic activity of Artemisia campestris essential oil aerial parts. The chemical composition was analysed by gaz chromatography/mass chromatography (GC/MS). Fifty compounds were identified representing 99.98% of the total oil. A. campestris essential oil was dominated by beta-pinene (36.40%) and 2-undecanone (14.7%).

The in vitro anthelmintic activity tests of A. campestris essential oil were performed on Haemonchus contortus using egg hatch assay (EHA) and adult worm’s motility assay (AWMA) compared with a reference drug albendazole. In the EHA 100% inhibition was observed at 2 mg/ml after 48 h incubation (IC50 = 0.93 mg/ml). In the AWMA, essential oil induced 66.6% inhibition at 0.5 mg/ml after 8 h post exposure.

The nematicidal effect of essential oil was evaluated on Heligmosomoides polygyrus. It was monitored through faecal egg count reduction (FECR) and total worm count reduction (TWCR). Three doses (2000, 4000 and 5000 mg/kg) were studied using a bioassay. The dose of 5000 mg/kg showed a high nematicidal activity (72.1% FECR and 72% TWCR), 7 days post-treatment. The results of the present study suggest that A. campestris essential oil has a potential anthelmintic activity and further studies are required in order to establish its mechanisms of action.

Introduction

Helminth infections caused by gastrointestinal nematode (GINs) are a major health problem for small ruminants’ production (Waller, 1997; Perry and Randolph, 1999). H. contortus is one of the most important nematodes (Allonby and Urquhart, 1975). It causes anaemia and mortality particularly in younger animals (Newton, 1999; Emery et al., 2016).The infestation was responsible production losses may amount to 5%, 234% and 25% for wool, meat and mortality respectively (Suarez et al., 1990). In a recent survey in Tunisia, the overall prevalence of Haemonchus species in sheep, goats and cattle was 17, 33.6 and 7.23%, respectively (Akkari et al., 2013).

The control of gastro-intestinal nematode (GIN) in livestock is mainly treated with anthelmintic (Torres-Acosta and Hoste, 2008). However, the frequent use of these anthelmintics over many years leads to the development of resistance against all major groups (Wolstenholme et al., 2004). In addition, many drugs currently available for the treatment of infections are expensive and often not readily available or are easily counterfeited (AlMarby et al., 2016). Alternative strategies for control of nematode infections are needed.

Bioactive substances extracted from plants may represent an alternative for controlling gastrointestinal nematodes, since they can be supplied in a sustainable manner and they are ecologically acceptable and environmentally friendly (Costa et al., 2008). The use of medicinal plants has been reported in treating various ailments, thereby increasing the interest in ethnomedical and ethnoveterinary cures (Lulekal et al., 2014).

The genus Artemisia (commonly known as “Tgouft’’ in Tunisia) is a perennial aromatic herb belonging to asteraceae family which includes about 400 species distributed in the Mediterranean region, Northern Africa, Western Asia and Southwestern Europe, and in Arabian Peninsula (Ghorab et al., 2013). In Tunisia, the genus Artemisia includes five species (A. herba-alba ASSO, A. arborescens L., A. vulgaris L., A. campestris L., and A. atlantica (Le Floc’h, 1983 ). The essential oil and extracts of A. campestris has been isolated, analysed and investigated for its biological activities by several authors in Tunisia. (Akkari et al., 2013; Akrout et al., 2011 and Aloui et al., 2017) and in other countries (Ghorab et al., 2013; Dib et al., 2017) A. campestris essential oil is reported to possess biological effects such as anti-leishmania (Aloui et al., 2017), antifungal (Houicher et al., 2016), antimicrobial and antioxidant properties (Baykan Erel et al., 2012).

As far as the literature could be ascertained, this is the first study on anthelmintic activity of A. campestris essential oil. Current study, aimed at evaluating the chemical profile, the toxicity and the potential in vitro and in vivo nematicidal effects of A. campestris essential

oil aerial part against gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep.

Section snippets

Plant materials

Fresh leaves and stems of A. compestris were collected during May (spring season), at Elhania, Sidi Bouzid governorate (Central Tunisia,). A. campestris is widespread in Northern Africa and other similar Mediterranean agro-ecological zones.

Isolation of the essential oils and analysis

Dried leaves and stems were hydrodistilled for 3 h using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The obtained oil was dried using anhydrous sodium sulphate and stored in sterile tubes at 4 °C until analyses.

Samples of the extracted essential oil were analysed by Gas

Chemical analysis of Artemisia compestris essential oils

GC–MS analysis of essential oils aerial part revealed 50 components representing 99.98% of the oil. The composition of the essential oil was as follows: 36.40% beta-pinene, 14.7% 2-undecanone, 10.57% limonene, 6.3% benzene and other substances were present at low concentrations (Table 1).

Egg hatch assay

A. campestris essential oil showed ovicidal activity at all tested concentrations (Fig. 1). A. campestris oil exhibited dose-dependent egg hatching inhibition activities and the IC50 was 0.93 mg/ml. The

Discussion

In the present study, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo anthelmintic effects of essential oil extracted from the aerial part of A.campestris against gastrointestinal nematodes from sheep.

In total, 50 compounds were identified representing 99.98% of oil compositions. The main compounds found were: beta-pinene (36.4%), 2-undecanone (14.7%), limonene (10.57%) and benzene (3.6%). Abundance of beta-pinene is consistent with previous findings on A.campestris essential oil composition from

Conclusion

Based on the results of the current study, A.campestris essential oil showed significant in vitro and in vivo anthelmintic activity. The effect of essential oil was dose dependant. Further research such as purification and identification of bioactive compounds and toxicological investigation are necessary.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in relation to this work.

Acknowledgements

This work received financial support by “Laboratoired’Epidémiologie d’Infections Enzootiques des Herbivores en Tunisie” (Ministère de l’enseignement supérieur, Tunisia). The authors would like to thank Mr Limam Sassi, Mr Mohamed Jedidi, and Mr Bechir Guesmiand Mr Tawfik Lahmar for their valuable technical assistance.

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