6^th Asia-Pacific Pharma Congress

Biography

Biography: Kristiana Margarette C Romina

Abstract

Intestinal worm infestations caused by Ascaris lumbricoides have become one of the principal causes of malnutrition among Filipino children. These soil-transmitted helminths are developing resistance against commonly used anthelmintic drug treatments due to increased dosing and repeated use of the same drug. Reinfections with these helminths also occur over time. These alarming situations merit a search for alternative treatments. Studies have shown that the bark of Lansium domesticum is effective in treating pain in the gastrointestinal tract caused by intestinal worm infestations. This study evaluated the ovicidal activity of L. domesticum through in vitro testing against Ascaris lumbricoides. The methanolic bark extract of Lansium domesticum was obtained through percolation and the crude extract was fractionated using chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol. The extracts were found to contain tannins, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, and anthraquinones. The different fractions contain a variety of phytochemical constituents. The crude extract yielded the highest condensed tannin content of 147mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g sample, followed by ethyl acetate, chloroform and n-butanol fractions with 88mg GAE/g, 28.6mg GAE/g and 28.4 mg GAE/g, respectively. The Egg Hatch Test was used to assess the effect of each crude extract and fractions on the viability of Ascaris lumbricoides eggs. After 48 hours, Albendazole 60mg/mL and Crude 120mg/mL were found to have similar ovicidal effect (p=0.104). After 96 hours, Albendazole 60mg/mL, Crude 120mg/mL, Ethyl acetate 60mg/mL and Chloroform 120mg/mL exhibited comparable ovicidal effect (p=0.470). The other extractives did not show ovicidal effect. The Ova Analysis was used to assess the effect of the test materials on larvae development after incubation in soil set-up. The crude 120mg/ml, ethyl acetate 60mg/ml and chloroform 120mg/mL showed similar ovicidal effect on egg development (p=0.052), although the effect was not equivalent to that of standard drug. All the other extractives did not adversely affect egg development (p=0.321). In vitro studies revealed that the crude, ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts of L. domesticum at 120mg/mL possess ovicidal effect against A. Lumbricoides and may be explored as potential alternative to commercially-available anthelmintic agents.