Anthelmintic activity of Azadirachta indica A. Juss against sheep gastrointestinal nematodes

Gastrointestinal nematode control has been performed through use of anthelmintics. However, the development of resistant populations has required research into new alternatives. There are popular reports about anti-parasitic activity of Azadirachta indica in animals and plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anthelmintic activity of A. indica after feeding sheep with the dried leaves. In this experiment, 40 sheep were allotted into four treatment groups. Group I received a treatment of A. indica dry leaves mixed in a concentrate at a rate of 0.1 g/kg dose for 3 months. Group II was treated with double the dose of Group I. Group III was treated with closantel (Diantel) at the manufacturer-recommended dose once at the beginning of the study and Group IV was not treated. To compare treatment effects, the following parameters were evaluated: egg count per gram of feces (EPG), worm burden, weight gain and haematocrit. EPG and worm burden results were statistically evaluated using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Haematocrit and live weight gain were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means evaluated by Tukey's test with 95% probability. None of the evaluated parameters of the treatment groups were statistically different when compared to the control group, demonstrating that, with the protocol used, A. indica has no anthelmintic effect.