title: In vivo anthelmintic activity of ginger against gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep.
abstract: This paper describes the anthelmintic activity of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (family Zingiberaceae) rhizome, commonly known as ginger, to justify its traditional use in veterinary medicine. Crude powder (CP) and crude aqueous extract (CAE) of dried ginger (1-3 g/kg) were administered to sheep naturally infected with mixed species of gastrointestinal nematodes. Both CP and CAE exhibited a dose- and a time-dependent anthelmintic effect with respective maximum reduction of 25.6% and 66.6% in eggs per gram (EPG) of faeces on day 10 of post-treatment. Levamisole (7.5 mg/kg), a standard anthelmintic agent, exhibited 99.2% reduction in EPG. This study shows that ginger possesses in vivo anthelmintic activity in sheep thus justifying the age-old traditional use of this plant in helminth infestation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Parasitology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan. zafaruaf@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Zafar
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lateef
authors.forename: Muhammad Shoaib
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: Muhammad Nabeel
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ghayur
authors.forename: Anwarul Hassan
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Gilani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000969:Antinematodal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D020939:Zingiber officinale; D007978:Levamisole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010154:Pakistan; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use; D027343:Rhizome; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D000969:Antinematodal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D007978:Levamisole