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. 2020 Jan 7;25(2):242.
doi: 10.3390/molecules25020242.

In Vitro Anthelmintic Activity of Saponins from Medicago spp. Against Sheep Gastrointestinal Nematodes

Michela Maestrini  1 , Aldo Tava  2 , Simone Mancini  1 , Doriana Tedesco  3 , Stefania Perrucci  1
Affiliations

In Vitro Anthelmintic Activity of Saponins from Medicago spp. Against Sheep Gastrointestinal Nematodes

Michela Maestrini et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Gastrointestinal strongyle nematodes (GIS) are included among the most important parasites of small ruminants. The widespread drug resistance and drug residues in products of animal origin have increased the interest in the search for natural compounds with anthelmintic activity as a valid alternative to current synthetic drugs. The aim of the present investigation was to test the 'in vitro' anthelmintic activity of saponins and prosapogenins from different Medicago species, selected for their importance as a forage crop worldwide for animal feeding. From these plants, saponin mixtures were extracted, purified and used at scalar concentrations to evaluate their anthelmintic activities against sheep gastrointestinal strongyles (GISs), by the egg hatch test. Treated and untreated controls were used as the comparison. Data were statistically analyzed, and EC50 and EC90 were also calculated. All saponins and prosapogenins showed inhibiting effects on GIS eggs in a concentration-dependent manner. At higher concentrations, most of them showed an efficacy comparable to the reference drug (Thiabendazole 3 µg/mL) (P < 0.001). With 1.72 mg/mL EC50 and 3.84 mg/mL EC90, saponin from M. polymorpha cultivars Anglona was the most active. Obtained results encourage further studies aimed at evaluating the efficacy 'in vivo' of saponins which resulted as most effective 'in vitro' in this study.

Keywords: Medicago spp.; gastrointestinal strongyles; prosapogenins; saponins; sheep; ‘in vitro’ anthelmintic activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structure of the most abundant sapogenins (R = R1 = H) detected in the Medicago spp. used in this study. R = R1 = sugar or sugar chain: bidesmosidic saponins; R = sugar or sugar chain, R1 = H: monodesmosidic saponins.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentages of egg hatch reduction found for the saponin and prosapogenin mixtures tested at different concentrations (from 10 to 0.05 mg/mL) compared to positive (thiabendazole (TBZ) 3 µg/mL) and negative (H2O and H2O-1% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)) controls. a–i represent a statistical differences.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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