In-vitro Antihelmintic and Kill Kinetics Activities of Stem Bark Extracts and Chromatographic Fractions of Chrysophyllum albidum (G. Don)

High resistance prevalent to most antihelmintic drugs has led to the search for alternative treatments. Chrysophyllum albidum G. Don a rain forest tree has folkloric anthelmintic claims. The anthelmintic properties of n-hexane, dichloromethane and methanol extracts and the chromatographic fractions of methanol extract were evaluated. Earthworms washed in distilled water (n=7) were placed in 9cm petri dishes of crude extract with six different concentrations (1,5,10,20,40,60mg/mL) and four concentrations (1, 5, 10 and 20mg/mL) of chromatographic fractions A,B and C. In the study two, liverfluke and tapeworms (n = 7) each washed in distilled water were placed in 9 cm petri dishes of crude methanol extracts of C. albidum (60mg/mL) or chromatographic fractions B or C (10mg/mL and 20mg/mL each). This test was conducted in duplicate. Gross motility and mortality studies were carried out as described by earlier method. Albendazole was used as a reference drug. Data is presented as Mean ± SEM, analysis conducted using two way ANOVA. Methanolic extract of C. albidum (MeCaB) showed the highest antihelmintic activity  at 60mg/mL comparable with Albendazole. Chromatographic fractions B and C (at 10 and 20mg/mL each) showed the highest antihelmintic activities with their time of death and paralysis comparable with Albendazole. Histological evaluation of the dead worms revealed that MeCaB and its' chromatographic fractions caused severe damages of epidermal cells. It can be concluded that methanol extract of Chrysophyllum albidum had greater antihelmintic activity compared with other extracts and might be a good target plant source for antihelmintic drug development.