Etude de l’activité anticoccidienne des extraits de peganum harmala, retama sphaerocarpa et grains de pollen

Abstract

Avian coccidial infections are associated with a heavy economic damage. They are caused by obligate intracellular parasites of the genus Eimeria. Nine species are caused in chickens. These parasites are host specific and invade epithelial cells of animal intestines, causing severe damages that can lead to the host’s death. Prophylaxis relies on the use of anticoccidial drugs and vaccination. However, the vaccines’ high costs and the emergence of anticoccidial drug resistance highlight the need to develop alternative control methods. The use of products from medicinal plants is one of the alternative methods against avian coccidiosis. These plants remain the first reservoir of new chemical molecules necessary for producing future drugs. The aim of our study consists to test in vitro some plants, Harmel (Peganum harmala), Retama (Retama sphaerocarpa) and Pollen grains against coccidiosis. Results showed that the different extracts of these plants destroyed the Eimeria sp oocyst in concentration dependant manner where the applied concentrations are ranging from 10 to 30mg/ml. Expressed in LC 50 and compared to blank (p<0.05), results indicated that the most toxic treatment or coccidiocid was the aqueous extract of Retama sphaerocarpa followed by methanol extracts of Peganum harmala, Retama sphaerocarpa and Pollen grain with a proportions of destroyed oocyst of 48%, 33%, 29%, and 21,5%, respectively. An important release of cellular material that absorb at 273 nm was also observed. It varied in linear and proportional manner with the different concentration of extracts (5, 10, 20 and30mg/ml). Such results reflect both a quantitative and qualitative variability towards the coccidiosid power of different extracts. This may be due to the great difference of their metabolites where several biological activities were investigated using chemical, biochemical and microbial methods.