IN VITRO ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF AZADIRACHTA INDICA (NEEM) AND MELIA AZEDARACH (BAKAIN) ESSENTIAL OILS AND THEIR SILVER NANOPARTICLES AGAINST HAEMONCHUS CONTORTUS
Sidra Batool
Abstract
Synthetic drugs are mostly used for the control and prevention of parasitic ailments in ruminants. However, the resource-poor people of developing countries use herbal medicines to treat their animals. Ethnoveterinary medicine along with its huge beneficial effects also prevents the emergence of drug resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to validate the efficacy of these medicinal plants scientifically for their future use to control endoparasitic infections. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the in vitrobanthelmintic effects of two indigenous plant extracts namely Azadirachta (A.) indica and Melia (M.) azedarach. The essential oils (EOs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) of these two plants were obtained from their seeds and leaves by hydro-distillation and centrifugation techniques. Their effects were studied by performing the egg hatch assay (EHA) and adult motility assay (AMA) against Haemonchus contortus. The results of their efficacy were analyzed using Probit analysis. In our study, EO and NP of M. azedarachbresulted in a 50% reduction of egg hatching in EHA at 0.209 and 0.204µL/L, and for A. indica at 0.456 and 0.184µL/L respectively. Essential oils and AgNPs of A. indica and M. azedarach were found to be effective in AMA at 0.036, 0.362, 0.305, and 0.032µL/L respectively. Further studies are still required to know more about their effectiveness against different parasitic stages.