Anthelmintic potential of Calotropis procera, Azadirachta indica and Punica granatum against Gastrothylax indicus

Anthelmintic activity of both ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Calotropis procera flowers, Azadirachta indica leaves and Punica granatum fruit peel in comparison with albendazole was evaluated through in vitro studies by the worm motility inhibition assay. Significant anthelmintic effects (p < 0.0005) were observed on live Gastrothylax indicus worm as evident from their mortality at 4 h post exposure to both ethanolic and aqueous extracts. Phytochemical analysis of extracts revealed the presence of phenols, alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, steroids and triterpenoids. LC-50 values were determined to be 12.05 mg/ml ± 3.24 and 23.52 mg/ml ± 6.4 for C. procera, 24.37 mg/ml ± 4.11 and 21.02 mg/ml ± 4.6 for A. indica, 18.92 mg/ml ± 4.54 and 24.43 mg/ml ± 6.96 for P. granatum ethanolic and aqueous extracts respectively, whereas it was 29.23 μg/ml ± 4.51 for albendazole. The mean mortality index (MI) was 1.0 and 0.90 for C. procera, 0.90 for A. indica and 0.73 and 0.80 for P. granatum ethanolic and aqueous extracts respectively whereas for albendazole it was 1.0. Percent mean worm motility inhibition (%WMI) was observed to be between 70 and 100 % for different extracts.Various concentrations (5–5000 μg/ml) of all the plant extracts and albendazole were used to detect their cytotoxic effects against HeLa cell line to determine CC-50 by MTT assay. CC-50 values, of all the plant extracts were determined to be >1000 μg/ml and for albendazole it was found to be >10 μM. All the three plants can be potential sources for novel anthelmintics.