Journal of Animal Research & Veterinary Science Category: Agriculture Type: Research Article
In vitro and In vivo Effects of Aloe ferox Extracts on Gastrointestinal Nematodes Control and Live Weight Gain of Young Sheep
- Ahmed M1*, Basha NA2, Laing MD3, Nsahlai IV1
- 1 Department Of Animal And Poultry Science, University Of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- 2 Department Of Animal And Poultry Science, Faculty Of Animal Production, University Of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- 3 Discipline Of Plant Pathology, University Of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
*Corresponding Author:
Ahmed MDepartment Of Animal And Poultry Science, University Of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Tel:+273 32605474,
Email:Ahmedm@ukzn.ac.za
Received Date: Sep 26, 2017 Accepted Date: Nov 09, 2017 Published Date: Nov 22, 2017
Abstract
Gastrointestinal nematodes reduce production of small ruminants globally. Producing cheap and safe anthelmintic drugs with novel modes of action is the aspiration of many involved in this field. This study evaluated the In vitro and In vivo effects of a medicinal plant, Aloe ferox Mill, on gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep. Ethanolic extracts of different A. ferox fractions (dried leaves, pulp and cuticle, and gel of fresh leaves) were tested In vitro after dilution with water to concentrations of 5, 10 and 20% of the concentrate. Dried leaves had the greatest effect (P<0.001) on nematode larvae. A further In vivoinvestigation was done using twenty four lambs, aged 3-4 months (initial body weights of 22.1±4.3kg) were used. Gender, initial Eggs Per Gram (EPG) of faeces and initial body weight were used to place lambs into four groups of 6 lambs. Groups were then assigned to 4 treatments randomly. Dried, powdered leaves of A. ferox at 0, 50g, 100g and 250g per lamb were given daily for 10 weeks after it was mixed with a standard feed. Lambs were weighed weekly. Rectal faecal samples were taken every 7 days up to Day 70, and EPG were counted in individual samples. Average Daily Gain (ADG) increased with A. feroxtreatments, whereas EPG decreased (P<0.001) with time. Feeding of 250g of dried, powdered A. feroxleaves resulted in the highest ADG and maximum reduction of EPG. These findings suggest that A. feroxhas the potential to improve animal weight gain and to suppress the production of eggs by gastrointestinal nematodes.
Keywords
INTRODUCTION
In addition, loss of endogenous protein, anemia and impact on animal health. Treatment costs are high. In critical situations, death may result from severe infections [3]. Currently, the conventional control strategy for GIN infections is the use of synthetic anthelmintic drugs [4]. However, development of resistance by the parasites to the available drugs is widespread, and alternative control measures are needed. Consumers of animal by-products have also become cautious of possible contamination of meat and milk products as a result of drug residues. Small-scale farmers are leaving the livestock industry because of the unaffordable cost of drugs. Thus, alternative methods for controlling GINs are being studied. These include supplementing feed with medicinal plant products with anthelmintic properties.
The effect of supplementing animal feed with anthelmintic plant products depends upon the availability of that plant, its palatability and selective behaviour of animals. However, many plants have shown potential to control GINs in animals, such as Sericea lespedeza Dum. Cours. [5], Ficus spp. [6] and Aloe ferox Mill [7]. Their anthelmintic properties are attached to various active ingredients and their concentrations in the plants. However, some of these active ingredients have been associated with adverse reactions when fed to livestock. For example, tannins, the recognised active substance in Sericea lespedezaand Acacia spp., when fed to livestock in large quantities, reduce voluntary feed intake and digestibility [5].
The objectives of the current study were to determine the in vitro effects of variousfractions of A. feroxplants on nematodes larvae. Further, to examine In vivo their anthelmintic activity and their effect on body weight gain of lambs when fed A. ferox plant in feed.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Plant collection and preparation
In vitro anti-nematodal activity of Aloe ferox products
In vivo screening of different dosages of A. ferox leaves
Four level of dry powdered leaves of A. ferox (0, 50g, 100g and 250g) were added to standard lambs feed which consisted of the following ingredients: Cottonseed cake (37.5kg), hominy chop (33.3kg), molasses liquid (8.6kg) and Vit. Premix (1.1 kg). Lambs were fed the standard diet daily between 07: 00-09: 00h and then given veld hayand water ad libitum.
During a 14-days pre-treatment period, sheep were randomly allocated to individual sheep feeding stalls to acclimatize them to handling facilities. At the end of this period, faecal samples were collected and nematode Eggs Per Gram of feaces (EPG) were determined. During this trial, sheep were assigned to one of four treatments: Standard feed without treatment (control), and 50g, 100g and 250g of dry powdered A. ferox leaves per sheep daily. Treatments were mixed with the feed formulation given daily for 10 weeks.
Lambs were weighted every week up to Day 70. Rectal grab samples were collected weekly during the experiment for nematode egg counts using the McMaster Technique, according to [9].
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
n=number of larvae; T=Treated; Co=Control
Nematode larvae counts were analysed using the General Linear Model procedure of SAS (2000). In trial 1, the following statistical model was used to analyse larval mortality at specific concentrations:
Data on faecal egg counts wereanalyzed by using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of SAS (2000), according to the following model:
Yijkl=µ + Wi + Tj + (W*T)ij+ Gk+ Ll+ eijkl;
Log transformations were applied to EPG to normalize variance. These data were presented in Table 3 together with the untransformed means, which are easier to interpret. The transformed data were analyzed using the same statistical model.
RESULTS
In vitro screening of Aloe ferox extracts for anthelmintic activity
Aloe Ferox Parts Used |
Ethanolic Extract Concentrations% (v/v with water) |
||
5 |
10 |
20 |
|
Dried powdered leaves |
75.7±4.2 |
84.2±3.7 |
86.9±2.9 |
Gel from leaves |
48.7±2.7 |
58.3±2.7 |
61.4±3.3 |
Skin of fresh leaves |
68.3±3.4 |
72.9±2.1 |
75.4±1.0 |
Control |
30.5±2.1 |
33.5±3.4 |
39.3±2.1 |
F value |
5.74 |
4.67 |
4.23 |
CV% |
12.55 |
10.43 |
11.67 |
P< |
0.001 |
0.001 |
0.001 |
Table 1: In vitro efficacy of ethanol extracts of different fractions of a medicinal plant (Aloe ferox) against a mixed culture of gastrointestinal nematode larvae of sheep.
Live-weight gain
Treatments |
Wt0 (kg) |
Wt70 (kg) |
ADG (g) |
Rank |
50g |
25.96 |
29.92 |
56.55 |
3 |
100g |
26.04 |
29.71 |
52.38 |
2 |
250g |
25.71 |
29.75 |
57.74 |
1 |
Control |
25.58 |
26.63 |
14.88 |
4 |
F value |
|
1.67 |
15.19 |
|
P< |
|
0.1874 |
0.001 |
|
LSD |
|
NA |
3.51 |
|
CV% |
|
14.66 |
13.08 |
|
CV% = Coefficient of Variance.
Effect of Aloe ferox plant extracts on nematode eggs count
Treatment |
Mean Values of Eggs Per Gram of Faeces |
||||||||||
(g of A.ferox/sheep) |
Week 0 |
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5 |
Week 6 |
Week 7 |
Week 8 |
Week 9 |
Week 10 |
50 |
1683±414 |
1692±459 |
1642±486 |
1617±470 |
1508±457 |
1233±459 |
1158±440 |
1117±430 |
1067±433 |
983±415 |
900±404 |
100 |
1758±257 |
1750±251 |
1700±243 |
1550±225 |
1450±268 |
1058±281 |
1017±248 |
1000±227 |
983±199 |
867±210 |
833±183 |
250 |
1667±311 |
1675±316 |
1550±317 |
1350±304 |
1242±294 |
983±287 |
958±286 |
900±283 |
792±295 |
700±282 |
592±214 |
0 |
1633±447 |
1667±442 |
1700±435 |
1758±432 |
1758±408 |
1758±407 |
1608±403 |
1558±411 |
1550±415 |
1550±422 |
1542±437 |
F value |
0. 01 |
0.01 |
0.03 |
0.15 |
0.25 |
0.95 |
1.12 |
1.15 |
1.47 |
2.23 |
3.52 |
CV% |
67.94 |
64.43 |
66.13 |
67.73 |
70.36 |
69.69 |
57.45 |
58.01 |
59.44 |
59.01 |
60.74 |
P< |
0.998 |
0.999 |
0.994 |
0.926 |
0.863 |
0.434 |
0.364 |
0.354 |
0.253 |
0.001 |
0.001 |
Treatment |
Transformed egg per gram of faeces (Log transformed) |
||||||||||
(g of A.ferox/sheep) |
Week 0 |
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5 |
Week 6 |
Week 7 |
Week 8 |
Week 9 |
Week 10 |
50 |
3.13±0.05 |
3.13±0.06 |
3.12±0.06 |
3.11±0.06 |
3.09±0.06 |
3.03±0.06 |
3.01±0.06 |
2.99±0.06 |
2.98±0.06 |
2.95±0.06 |
2.92±0.06 |
100 |
3.19±0.04 |
3.18±0.04 |
3.17±0.04 |
3.14±0.04 |
3.11±0.05 |
2.98±0.06 |
2.97±0.05 |
2.95±0.05 |
2.93±0.04 |
2.88±0.05 |
2.85±0.04 |
250 |
3.18±0.04 |
3.19±0.04 |
3.15±0.04 |
3.09±0.04 |
3.04±0.04 |
2.96±0.04 |
2.95±0.04 |
2.93±0.04 |
2.87±0.05 |
2.83±0.04 |
2.68±0.04 |
0 |
3.17±0.06 |
3.13±0.06 |
3.14±0.06 |
3.15±0.06 |
3.15±0.06 |
3.15±0.06 |
3.14±0.07 |
3.13±0.07 |
3.13±0.07 |
3.13±0.07 |
3.13±0.08 |
F value |
0.11 |
0.1 |
0.04 |
0.08 |
0.21 |
0.84 |
0.96 |
0.98 |
1.41 |
2.34 |
4.79 |
CV% |
8.34 |
8.31 |
8.27 |
8.27 |
8.58 |
7.47 |
6.95 |
7.19 |
7.37 |
7.05 |
7.23 |
P< |
0.953 |
0.961 |
0.988 |
0.968 |
0.888 |
0.487 |
0.43 |
0.4238 |
0.27 |
0.001 |
0.001 |
DISCUSSION
In vivo data showed a reduction in the Faecal Egg Counts (FEC) resulting all doses fromaloe treatment compared with the control group, indicating strong anthelminthic activity. Study on goats using A. feroxextracts have reported reductions (P<0.05) in strongyle eggs, administration of two doses of 250 and 500 mgkg-1 at a concentration of 100 mgml-1 per animal for 9 days decreased faecal egg count dramatically [12,13] also found a significant (P<0.001) decrease of nematode egg counts in naturally infected sheep treated with an A. ferox extract. Weekly dosing of 100mg of A. ferox kg-1 body weight per sheep for 42 days reduced egg counts and numbers of larvae recovered from faecal cultures. [14] found A. ferox has a negative effect on nematodes due to the glucoside aloin content, which may cause expulsion of worms from the gastrointestinal tract. Aloe ferox extract could affect the egg laying ability of the female adult worms, resulting in reducing of FEC [12]. However, the In vitro trial here showed the aloe extract was directly nematicidal.
In this study, there was an increased in live weight gain of treated animals. This confirmed the study of [13], where sheep weight increased when the animals were dosed with an A. ferox extract. [15] reported that the means of live weight of lambs treated with Khayasenegalensis Desr. extract also improved.
CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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Citation: Ahmed M, Basha NA, Laing MD, Nsahlai IV (2017) In vitro and In vivo Effects of Aloe ferox Extracts on Gastrointestinal Nematodes Control and Live Weight Gain of Young Sheep. J Anim Res Vet Sci 1: 003.
Copyright: © 2017 Ahmed M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
