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Direct Anthelmintic Effects of Condensed Tannins from Diverse Plant Sources against Ascaris suum

Ascaris suum is one of the most prevalent nematode parasites in pigs and causes significant economic losses, and also serves as a good model for A. lumbricoides, the large roundworm of humans that is ubiquitous in developing countries and causes malnutrition, stunted growth and compromises immunity...

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Autores principales: Williams, Andrew R., Fryganas, Christos, Ramsay, Aina, Mueller-Harvey, Irene, Thamsborg, Stig M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4014605/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24810761
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097053
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author Williams, Andrew R.
Fryganas, Christos
Ramsay, Aina
Mueller-Harvey, Irene
Thamsborg, Stig M.
author_facet Williams, Andrew R.
Fryganas, Christos
Ramsay, Aina
Mueller-Harvey, Irene
Thamsborg, Stig M.
author_sort Williams, Andrew R.
collection PubMed
description Ascaris suum is one of the most prevalent nematode parasites in pigs and causes significant economic losses, and also serves as a good model for A. lumbricoides, the large roundworm of humans that is ubiquitous in developing countries and causes malnutrition, stunted growth and compromises immunity to other pathogens. New treatment options for Ascaris infections are urgently needed, to reduce reliance on the limited number of synthetic anthelmintic drugs. In areas where Ascaris infections are common, ethno-pharmacological practices such as treatment with natural plant extracts are still widely employed. However, scientific validation of these practices and identification of the active compounds are lacking, although observed effects are often ascribed to plant secondary metabolites such as tannins. Here, we extracted, purified and characterised a wide range of condensed tannins from diverse plant sources and investigated anthelmintic effects against A. suum in vitro. We show that condensed tannins can have potent, direct anthelmintic effects against A. suum, as evidenced by reduced migratory ability of newly hatched third-stage larvae and reduced motility and survival of fourth-stage larvae recovered from pigs. Transmission electron microscopy showed that CT caused significant damage to the cuticle and digestive tissues of the larvae. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the strength of the anthelmintic effect is related to the polymer size of the tannin molecule. Moreover, the identity of the monomeric structural units of tannin polymers may also have an influence as gallocatechin and epigallocatechin monomers exerted significant anthelmintic activity whereas catechin and epicatechin monomers did not. Therefore, our results clearly document direct anthelmintic effects of condensed tannins against Ascaris and encourage further in vivo investigation to determine optimal strategies for the use of these plant compounds for the prevention and/or treatment of ascariosis.
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spelling pubmed-40146052014-05-14 Direct Anthelmintic Effects of Condensed Tannins from Diverse Plant Sources against Ascaris suum Williams, Andrew R. Fryganas, Christos Ramsay, Aina Mueller-Harvey, Irene Thamsborg, Stig M. PLoS One Research Article Ascaris suum is one of the most prevalent nematode parasites in pigs and causes significant economic losses, and also serves as a good model for A. lumbricoides, the large roundworm of humans that is ubiquitous in developing countries and causes malnutrition, stunted growth and compromises immunity to other pathogens. New treatment options for Ascaris infections are urgently needed, to reduce reliance on the limited number of synthetic anthelmintic drugs. In areas where Ascaris infections are common, ethno-pharmacological practices such as treatment with natural plant extracts are still widely employed. However, scientific validation of these practices and identification of the active compounds are lacking, although observed effects are often ascribed to plant secondary metabolites such as tannins. Here, we extracted, purified and characterised a wide range of condensed tannins from diverse plant sources and investigated anthelmintic effects against A. suum in vitro. We show that condensed tannins can have potent, direct anthelmintic effects against A. suum, as evidenced by reduced migratory ability of newly hatched third-stage larvae and reduced motility and survival of fourth-stage larvae recovered from pigs. Transmission electron microscopy showed that CT caused significant damage to the cuticle and digestive tissues of the larvae. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the strength of the anthelmintic effect is related to the polymer size of the tannin molecule. Moreover, the identity of the monomeric structural units of tannin polymers may also have an influence as gallocatechin and epigallocatechin monomers exerted significant anthelmintic activity whereas catechin and epicatechin monomers did not. Therefore, our results clearly document direct anthelmintic effects of condensed tannins against Ascaris and encourage further in vivo investigation to determine optimal strategies for the use of these plant compounds for the prevention and/or treatment of ascariosis. Public Library of Science 2014-05-08 /pmc/articles/PMC4014605/ /pubmed/24810761 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097053 Text en © 2014 Williams et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 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 properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Williams, Andrew R.
Fryganas, Christos
Ramsay, Aina
Mueller-Harvey, Irene
Thamsborg, Stig M.
Direct Anthelmintic Effects of Condensed Tannins from Diverse Plant Sources against Ascaris suum
title Direct Anthelmintic Effects of Condensed Tannins from Diverse Plant Sources against Ascaris suum
title_full Direct Anthelmintic Effects of Condensed Tannins from Diverse Plant Sources against Ascaris suum
title_fullStr Direct Anthelmintic Effects of Condensed Tannins from Diverse Plant Sources against Ascaris suum
title_full_unstemmed Direct Anthelmintic Effects of Condensed Tannins from Diverse Plant Sources against Ascaris suum
title_short Direct Anthelmintic Effects of Condensed Tannins from Diverse Plant Sources against Ascaris suum
title_sort direct anthelmintic effects of condensed tannins from diverse plant sources against ascaris suum
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4014605/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24810761
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097053
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