Comparing the toxicity of selected plant extract anthelmintics to levamisole hydrochloride and piperazine citrate in chickens.

In a controlled experiment, we compared renal-hepatal, haematological and organ histopathology responses in chickens treated with Crude extracts of Capsicum annuum L. and Carica papaya L. to those treated with synthetic anthelmintics. Twenty-one indigenous seven-week-old chickens were fed on Nuvita® feeds Uganda limited and adlib tap municipal water. They were divided into seven groups of three chickens per group. The treatments were; CPLe (Carica papaya L. ethanol extract), CPLa (Carica papaya L. acetone extract), CAFe (Capsicum annuum L. ethanol extract), CAFa (Capsicum annuum L. acetone extract), levamisole, piperazine and phosphate buffered saline (PBS). CPLe, CPLa, CAFe, CAFa were given at a dose of 0.48 g per bird (1.37 g/kg body weight) as determined from a previous in-vitro experiment. Levamisole hydrochloride was given at 25 mg/kg body weight and piperazine citrate at 100 mg/kg body weight. The control group received 0.2% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in PBS. The treatments were individually administered orally and repeated on the second day. The birds were bled and sacrificed one week after treatment. Blood was submitted for haematology and harvesting of serum for renal-hepatal function tests. The heart, kidneys and liver were also harvested for histological examinations. CPLe caused significantly raised albumin compared to CAFe (p = 0.02), levamisole caused significantly raised AST compared to CAFe (p = 0.04). All extracts and synthetic anthelmentics increased the number of eosinophils, indicating an increased inflammatory response. CPLa, CAFe, CAFa and levamisole were toxic to the kidneys. All extracts were toxic to the liver except CPLe. Piperazine and levamisole were as well toxic to the liver.Contribution: Plant extracts are not necessarily safer than synthetic anthelmintics and should be used with caution.