In vitro anthelmintic, antibacterial and cytotoxic effects of extracts from plants used in South African ethnoveterinary medicine.

Many plants are used for ethnoveterinary purposes in South Africa, particularly in rural areas. Extracts of 17 plant species employed to treat infectious diseases were prepared using three solvents and the antibacterial activity of the extracts was determined against two Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacteria. Anthelmintic activity was evaluated against the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and toxicity was determined using the brine shrimp larval mortality test. Most of the plant extracts demonstrated antibacterial activity, with the best minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) being 0.1 mg mL(-1). More than a third of the extracts displayed anthelmintic activity. Toxic effects against brine shrimp larvae were shown by 30% of extracts, with the lowest LC(50) recorded as 0.6 mg mL(-1). The promising biological activity displayed by a number of plant extracts supports the ethnoveterinary use of these plants but in vivo tests are required to ascertain fully their medicinal properties and potential toxicity.