Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt.
Parasitol Res. 2013 Jul;112(7):2639-46. doi: 10.1007/s00436-013-3430-3. Epub 2013 Apr 23.
Coccidiosis and helminthosis in poultry are responsible for worldwide economic losses. The methanolic extract of Punica granatum (pomegranate) peel was used in vivo for its pharmacological, antioxidant and anti-coccidial properties and in vitro for its anthelmintic activity. For the in vivo study, four groups of mice were investigated. The first group was inoculated only with sterile saline and served as the control group. The second group was treated by oral gavage with pomegranate extract (300 mg/kg) daily for 5 days. The third and fourth groups were infected with 10(3) sporulated oocysts of Eimeria papillata. The fourth group was also treated once daily with pomegranate peel extract for 5 days. For the in vitro study, the anthelmintic effect of pomegranate peel extract was observed on live adult Allolobophora caliginosa. Paraffin sections from jejunum as well as jejunal homogenate were prepared for the histopathological and biochemical investigations, respectively. The data showed that mice infected with E. papillata revealed an output of approximately 2.9 × 10(5) oocysts per gram faeces on day 5 p.i. This output is significantly decreased to 50 % in pomegranate-treated mice. Infection with E. papillata induced marked histopathological alterations in jejunum in the form of inflammation, vacuolation of the epithelium and destruction of some villi. In addition, pomegranate extract caused a great diminish in body weight loss of infected mice. Moreover, the number of goblet cells stained with Alcian blue within the infected villi was significantly increased by about 26 % after pomegranate treatment. In addition, Pomegranate significantly lowered the increased number of apoptotic cells due to E. papillata infection by about 36 %. The results showed that E. papillata enhanced hydrogen peroxide, lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide production with concomitant reduction in glutathione. Pomegranate induced marked improvements in all of the studied parameters as well as the histopathological features of jejunum. In addition, pomegranate was able to exert a significant anthelmintic effect on live adult A. caliginosa worms in terms of the paralysis and death of the worms at different concentrations (100, 200 and 300 mg/ml). The study revealed that pomegranate as a natural product has protective effects against E. papillata-induced coccidiosis as well as it possesses an anthelmintic activity.
球虫病和寄生虫病在禽类中造成了全球性的经济损失。石榴（石榴）皮的甲醇提取物因其药理学、抗氧化和抗球虫特性而在体内使用，因其驱虫活性而在体外使用。在体内研究中，研究了四组小鼠。第一组仅用无菌生理盐水接种，作为对照组。第二组每天口服灌胃石榴提取物（300mg/kg），连续 5 天。第三组和第四组感染 10（3）个孢子化的柔嫩艾美耳球虫卵囊。第四组还每天一次用石榴皮提取物治疗 5 天。在体外研究中，观察了石榴皮提取物对活的成年 Allolobophora caliginosa 的驱虫作用。分别制备空肠石蜡切片和空肠匀浆进行组织病理学和生化研究。数据显示，感染柔嫩艾美耳球虫的小鼠在感染后第 5 天粪便中排出的卵囊数约为 2.9×10（5）个/克。在石榴处理的小鼠中，这种排出量显著降低到 50%。感染柔嫩艾美耳球虫在空肠中引起明显的组织病理学改变，表现为炎症、上皮空泡化和一些绒毛破坏。此外，石榴提取物使感染小鼠的体重减轻明显减少。此外，用石榴处理后，感染绒毛中染色的粘蛋白细胞数量显著增加约 26%。此外，石榴显著降低了因感染柔嫩艾美耳球虫而增加的约 36%的凋亡细胞数。结果表明，柔嫩艾美耳球虫增强了过氧化氢、脂质过氧化和一氧化氮的产生，同时降低了谷胱甘肽的产生。石榴对所有研究参数以及空肠的组织病理学特征都有显著的改善作用。此外，石榴能够在不同浓度（100、200 和 300mg/ml）下对活的成年 A. caliginosa 蠕虫发挥显著的驱虫作用，导致蠕虫麻痹和死亡。研究表明，石榴作为一种天然产物，对柔嫩艾美耳球虫诱导的球虫病具有保护作用，同时具有驱虫活性。
