Anticestodal Efficacy of<i>Lasia spinosa</i>. Extract Against Experimental<i>Hymenolepis diminuta</i>. Infections in Rats

Abstract

The use of Lasia spinosa. (L.) Thwaites (Araceae) leaves in the treatment of intestinal worm infections is a common ethnobotanical practice in the Naga tribes of India. In the current study, the anticestodal efficacy of L. spinosa. leaf extract was investigated against a tapeworm using Hymenolepis diminuta.–rat animal model. The anticestodal effects of L. spinosa. leaf extract was determined by monitoring the eggs per gram of feces (EPG) counts and percentage worm recovery rates after treatment with leaf extract in single and double doses of 200, 400, 800, and 1600 mg/kg that were given orally for 5 days to the rats harboring immature and mature worms. The effect of plant extract was found to be dose-dependent, and double doses showed better efficacy as compared with single doses. In the case of infections with immature worms, 1600 mg/kg double dose of L. spinosa. leaf extract reduced the fecal egg counts of H. dimunta. by 80.8% and worm recovery rate by 16.7%, respectively. Praziquantel, the standard anticestodal drug given in 5 mg/kg single dose, reduced the fecal egg count by 83.2% and worm recovery rate by 16.7%. In the case of efficacy against mature worms, 1600 mg/kg double dose of leaf extract reduced the fecal egg counts of H. diminuta. by 94.9% and worm recovery rate by 8.5%, respectively. Praziquantel (5 mg/kg, single dose) reduced the fecal egg counts by 95.1% and worm recovery rate by 16.7%. The study suggests that the leaf extract of L. spinosa. possesses significant anticestodal efficacy and supports its use in folk medicine.