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Most drugs used in the treatment of helminthiasis in humans and animals have lost their efficacy due to the development of drug-resistance in helminths. Moreover, since anthelmintics, like many pharmaceuticals, are now recognized as hazardous contaminants of the environment, returning to medicinal plants and their products represents an environmentally friendly way to treat helminthiasis. The goal of the present study was to test the anthelminthic activity of methanol extracts of eight selected European ferns from the genera Dryopteris, Athyrium and Blechnum against the nematode Haemonchus contortus, a widespread parasite of small ruminants. Eggs and adults of H. contortus drug-susceptible strain ISE and drug-resistant strain WR were isolated from experimentally infected sheep. The efficacy of fern extracts was assayed using egg hatch test and adults viability test based on ATP-level measurement. Among the ferns tested, only Dryopteris aemula extract (0.2 mg/mL) inhibited eggs hatching by 25% in comparison to control. Athyrium distentifolium, Dryopteris aemula and Dryopteris cambrensis were effective against H. contortus adults. In concentration 0.1 mg/mL, A. distentifolium, D. aemula, D. cambrensis significantly decreased the viability of females from ISE and WR strains to 36.2%, 51.9%, 32.9% and to 35.3%, 27.0%, 23.3%, respectively in comparison to untreated controls. None of the extracts exhibited toxicity in precise cut slices from ovine liver. Polyphenol's analysis identified quercetin, kaempferol, luteolin, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, coumaric acid and protocatechuic acid as the major components of these anthelmintically active ferns.

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As a widely distributed parasitic nematode of ruminants, Haemonchus contortus has become resistant to most anthelmintic classes, there has been a major demand for new compounds against H. contortus and related nematodes. Recent phenotypic screening has revealed two compounds, designated as BLK127 and HBK4, that are active against H. contortus larvae. The present study was designed to assess the activity of these compounds against H. contortus eggs and adults, hepatotoxicity in rats and sheep, as well as biotransformation in H. contortus adults and the ovine liver. Both compounds exhibited no inhibitory effect on the hatching of eggs. The benzyloxy amide BLK127 significantly decreased the viability of adults in sensitive and resistant strains of H. contortus and showed no hepatotoxic effect, even at the highest concentration tested (100 µM). In contrast, HBK4 had no impact on the viability of H. contortus adults and exhibited significant hepatotoxicity. Based on these findings, HBK4 was excluded from further studies, while BLK127 seems to be a potential candidate for a new anthelmintic. Consequently, biotransformation of BLK127 was tested in H. contortus adults and the ovine liver. In H. contortus, several metabolites formed via hydroxylation, hydrolysis and glycosidation were identified, but the extent of biotransformation was low, and the total quantity of the metabolites formed did not differ significantly between the sensitive and resistant strains. In contrast, ovine liver cells metabolized BLK127 more extensively with a glycine conjugate of 4-(pentyloxy)benzoic acid as the main BLK127 metabolite.

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Haemonchus contortus is a parasitic nematode of ruminants which causes significant losses to many farmers worldwide. Since the drugs currently in use for the treatment of haemonchosis are losing their effectiveness due to the drug-resistance of this nematode, a new or repurposed drug is highly needed. As the antipsychotic drug sertraline (SRT) has been shown to be effective against the parasitic nematodes Trichuris muris, Ancylostoma caninum and Schistosoma mansoni, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible effect of SRT on H. contortus. The potential hepatotoxicity of SRT was tested in sheep, a common H. contortus host. In addition, the main metabolic pathways of SRT in H. contortus and the ovine liver were identified. While no effect of SRT on H. contortus egg hatching was observed, SRT was found to significantly decrease the viability of H. contortus adults in drug-sensitive and resistant strains, with its effect comparable to the commonly used anthelmintics levamisole and monepantel. Moreover, SRT in anthelmintically active concentrations showed no toxicity to the ovine liver. Biotransformation of SRT in H. contortus was weak, with most of the drug remaining unmetabolized. Production of the main metabolite hydroxy-SRT did not differ significantly between strains. Other minor metabolites such as SRT-O-glucoside, dihydroxy-SRT, and SRT-ketone were also identified in H. contorts adults. Compared to H. contortus, the ovine liver metabolized SRT more extensively, mainly via desmethylation and glucuronidation. In conclusion, the potency of SRT against H. contortus was proven, and it should be tested further toward possible repurposing.

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The parasitic gastrointestinal nematode Haemonchus contortus causes serious economic losses to agriculture due to infection and disease in small ruminant livestock. The development of new therapies requires appropriate viability testing, with methods nowadays relying on larval motility or development using procedures that involve microscopy. None of the existing biochemical methods, however, are performed in adults, the target stage of the anthelmintic compounds. Here we present a new test for the viability of H. contortus adults and exsheathed third-stage larvae which is based on a bioluminescent assay of ATP content normalized to total protein concentration measured using bicinchoninic acid. All the procedure steps were optimized to achieve maximal sensitivity and robustness. This novel method can be used as a complementary assay for the phenotypic screening of new compounds with potential antinematode activity in exsheathed third-stage larvae and in adult males. Additionally, it might be used for the detection of drug-resistant isolates.

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Wild edible plants have become an attractive variation of the human diet, especially in East Asia, North America, and Oceania. However, their potential in nutrition is only rarely considered in Europe. This study aims to reveal the nutritional and antioxidant potential of mature fern leaves from 13 families grown in Europe. We found that most of the examined fern species displayed a high antioxidant capacity, exceeding 0.5 g Trolox equivalent per gram of extract dry weight in ORAC assay and reaching IC50 values lower than 30 µg·mL-1 in DPPH assay (with the value for Trolox 7 µg·mL-1). Most of the species also appeared to be a good source of carotenoids, especially of lutein (205 µg·g-1 DW on average) and ß-carotene (161 µg·g-1 DW on average) when compared to the reference leafy vegetables spinach and rocket. A cytotoxicity test using ovine hepatocytes showed a non-toxicity effect of fern leaf extracts.

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The control of gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs), the most abundant and serious parasites of livestock, has become difficult because of the limited number of available drugs and fast development of drug resistance. Thus, considerable efforts have been devoted to developing new anthelmintics that are efficient against nematodes, especially resistant species. Here, we summarize the most recent results using various approaches: target-based or high-throughput screening (HTS) of compound libraries; the synthesis of new derivatives or new combinations of current anthelmintics; the repurposing of drugs currently approved for other indications; and lastly, the identification of active plant products. We also evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each of these approaches.

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Haemonchus contortus, one of the most pathogenic of all small ruminant parasites, have developed resistance to all used anthelmintics. Detoxification enzymes, e.g. cytochromes P450 (CYPs) and efflux transporters P-glycoproteins (P-gps), which represent the main defense system against harmful xenobiotics, have been suggested to contribute to drug resistance development. The present study was designed to compare the constitutive expression of individual CYPs and P-gps in females and males of H. contortus adults and to follow up on the changes in expression of these genes in nematodes exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of ivermectin (IVM), which might occur during inaccurate treatment. The adults of inbred susceptible-Edinburgh strain (ISE, MHco3) of H. contortus were used for this purpose. The nematodes were incubated ex vivo with or without IVM (1, 10 and 100 nM) in culture medium for 4, 12 and 24 h. After incubation, total RNA was isolated and expression levels of individual CYPs and P-gps were analyzed using qPCR. Our results showed a great variability in the constitutive expression of individual CYPs and P-gps in H. contortus adults. The constitutive expression as well as the inducibility of CYPs and P-gps significantly differed in males and females. Contact of adult nematodes with sub-lethal IVM concentrations led to only minor changes in expression of CYPs, while expression of several P-gps, particularly pgp-9.2 in males and pgp-10, pgp-11 in females was increased significantly in IVM-exposed nematodes. In conclusion, inaccurate treatment of sheep with IVM might contribute to drug resistance development via increased expression of efflux transporters in H. contortus adults.

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1. Giant liver fluke Fascioloides magna is a dangerous parasite, which infects herbivores. It was imported to Europe from North America and started to spread. Benzimidazoles like albendazole, mebendazole, triclabendazole and salicylanilides closantel and rafoxanide are the most used anthelmintics to control fascioloidosis. However their effect might be altered via drug-metabolizing enzymes of this parasite. 2. The aim of our study was to determine the activities of drug-metabolizing enzymes in F. magna and the metabolism of above mentioned anthelmintics. 3. Activities of several oxidative, reductive and conjugative enzymes towards various model xenobiotic substrates were found in F. magna subcellular fractions. 4. Subcellular fractions from F. magna oxidized albendazole to its sulphoxide metabolite and reduced mebendazole to hydroxyl-mebendazole. Under ex vivo conditions, only very-low concentrations of these compounds were detected using high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. 5. The results indicate that the giant liver fluke possesses the active xenobiotic-metabolizing system. The overexpression of this system may play an important role in parasite resistance against these anthelmintics.

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This review article deals with the technique which is called cryopreservation. Text describes the principle of this method, history and ethical problems in assisted reproduction.

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