Comparing the toxicity of selected plant extract anthelmintics to levamisole hydrochloride and piperazine citrate in chickens

Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Comparing the toxicity of selected plant extract anthelmintics to levamisole hydrochloride and piperazine citrate in chickens
 
Creator Zirintunda, Gerald Kateregga, John Nalule, Agnes Sarah Vudriko, Patrick Biryomumaisho, Savino Okwee-Acai, James
 
Subject Ethnoveterinary; chicken; remedies extract; herbal; synthetic; toxicity; eosinophilia; sodium; lesions; kidney; liver.
Description In a controlled experiment, we compared renal-hepatal, haematological and organ histopathology responses in chickens treated with Crude extracts of Capsicum annuum L. and Carica papaya L. to those treated with synthetic anthelmintics. Twenty-one indigenous seven-week-old chickens were fed on Nuvita® feeds Uganda limited and adlib tap municipal water. They were divided into seven groups of three chickens per group. The treatments were; CPLe (Carica papaya L. ethanol extract), CPLa (Carica papaya L. acetone extract), CAFe (Capsicum annuum L. ethanol extract), CAFa (Capsicum annuum L. acetone extract), levamisole, piperazine and phosphate buffered saline (PBS). CPLe, CPLa, CAFe, CAFa were given at a dose of 0.48 g per bird (1.37 g/kg body weight) as determined from a previous in-vitro experiment. Levamisole hydrochloride was given at 25 mg/kg body weight and piperazine citrate at 100 mg/kg body weight. The control group received 0.2% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in PBS. The treatments were individually administered orally and repeated on the second day. The birds were bled and sacrificed one week after treatment. Blood was submitted for haematology and harvesting of serum for renal-hepatal function tests. The heart, kidneys and liver were also harvested for histological examinations. CPLe caused significantly raised albumin compared to CAFe (p = 0.02), levamisole caused significantly raised AST compared to CAFe (p = 0.04). All extracts and synthetic anthelmentics increased the number of eosinophils, indicating an increased inflammatory response. CPLa, CAFe, CAFa and levamisole were toxic to the kidneys. All extracts were toxic to the liver except CPLe. Piperazine and levamisole were as well toxic to the liver.Contribution: Plant extracts are not necessarily safer than synthetic anthelmintics and should be used with caution.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Busitema University, Makerere University
Date 2025-09-10
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Experimental
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ojvr.v92i1.2212
 
Source Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research; Vol 92, No 1 (2025); 13 pages 2219-0635 0030-2465
 
Language eng
 
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The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/2212/2729 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/2212/2730 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/2212/2731 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/2212/2732
 
Coverage Africa 2020-2022 Haematology; Renal functions; Liver functions; Organ histology
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Gerald Zirintunda, John Kateregga, Agnes Sarah Nalule, Patrick Vudriko, Savino Biryomumaisho, James Okwee-Acai https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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