Abstract

Helminthiasis has been found to result in poor birth outcome, poor cognitive development, poor school and work performance, poor socioeconomic development, and poverty. Most of the commonly used anthelmintics belong to one of 3 chemical classes (benzimidazoles, imidazothiazoles, and macrocyclic lactones), within which all individual compounds act in a similar fashion. Thus, resistance to one particular compound may be accompanied by resistance to other members of the group (ie, cross-resistance). Hence it is important to look for alternative strategies against gastrointestinal nematodes, which have lead to the proposal of screening medicinal plants. This study evaluated the scientific basis for the traditional use of Nymphaea alba (Nymphaeaceae) leaves extract as an anthelmintic agent by using earthworms on four extracts of the plant were evaluated. The earthworm (Pheretima posthuma) resembles both anatomically and physiologically to the intestinal roundworm parasites of human beings. The four crude leaves extracts of Nymphaea alba were Petroleum Ether extract (25, 50 &100 mg/ml), Chloroform extract (25, 50 &100 mg/ml), Ethanol extract (25, 50 &100 mg/ml) and Aqueous extract (25, 50 &100 mg/ml). The paralysis time of four extracts were compared to the standard drug Albendazole suspension 100mg/5ml (19±2.21). The results shown that the four extracts produced dose dependent and significant anthelmintic activities. Dose dependent activity was observed in the plant extracts but ethanolic extract exhibited more activity as compared to others. From these findings the four extracts of Nymphaea alba are rich source of naturally occurring anthelmintic activity. Further work is recommended to evaluate the in vivo anthelmintic activity and toxicity of the extracts.