Authors

Discussion

Small ruminant production in tropical and temperate countries faced substantial anthelmintic resistance due to the intensive use of commercial anthelmintic drugs. Therefore, alternative treatments including natural bioactive compounds with anthelmintic potential have been investigated looking for its successfully use in the parasite control. In the present study, we describe the chemical profile of Laurus nobilis essential oil (EO), the in vitro anthelmintic activity of L. nobilis EO against Haemonchus contortus and its in vivo anthelmintic effect against the murine helminth parasite model Heligmosomoides polygyrus. Egg hatch assay (EHA) and Adult Worm Motility (AWM) assay were used to assess the in vitro anthelmintic activity of L. nobilis EO at the concentrations of 0.25; 0.5; 1; 2; 4 and 8 mg/mL against Haemonchus contortus. Moreover, L. nobilis EO at the concentrations of 300, 600 or 1200 and 2400 mg/kg were evaluated in vivo in mice infected with Heligmosomoides polygyrus. The in vivo anthelmintic efficacy was monitored using faecal egg count reduction (FECR) and total worm count reduction (TWCR).The in vitro anthelmintic potential was expressed by an ovicidal effect against H. contortus egg hatching with inhibition value of 1.72 mg/mL and 87.5 % of immobility of adult worms after 8 hours of exposure to 4 mg/mL of L. nobilis EO. Regarding, the in vivo anthelmintic potential, L. nobilis (EO) at 2400 mg/kg bw completely eliminated the egg output of H. polygyrus after 7 days of oral treatment, together with a 79.2% of reduction in total worm counts. Based on the obtained results, L. nobilis EO showed promising in vitro and in vivo anthelmintic capacities and could be a possible candidate for the control of worm parasites in livestock.