Anthelmintic efficacy of Cratylia argentea (Desv.) Kuntze against the gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep

The use of natural products having therapeutic properties can be considered an alternative approach for the control of helminths in ruminants, reducing the indiscriminate use of chemicals as well as production costs. The anthelmintic effectiveness of Cratylia argentea on sheep endoparasites was evaluated both in vitro by assessing the number of third-stage larvae recovered per gram of feces (LPG) from coprocultures treated with pods/ground seeds, macerated leaves or vermiculite (control), and in vivo using the Fecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT) in two groups of lambs (n = 8/group) that received 1 mL kg(-1) body weight of C. argentea solution (treated group) or distilled water (control group) orally. When compared to control group, there was a significant reduction in the percentage of LPG in the leaves group (55.88%; p <= 0.05) and pods/ground seeds group (82.48%; p <= 0.01). There was no significant reduction (p > 0.05) in the average count of EPG upon treatment with the aqueous solution of C. argentea. These findings suggest that C. argentea extract mainly obtained from pods/ground seeds has a promising potential for the control of young stages of gastrointestinal nematodes. However, further studies are needed to validate the use of C. argentea as an alternative method for the control of parasitic diseases of ruminants.