title: In vitro protoscolicidal effects of various concentrations of Ziziphora tenuior L. extract at different exposure times.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hydatidosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases and surgery is still the main treatment for this problem. One of the side effects of hydatid cyst surgery is recurrence, thus, searching and assessment of some new agents such as medicinal plant extracts are very important. In the present study, the scolicidal effect of ethanolic extract of Ziziphora tenuior (Z. tenuior) was investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Protoscolices were aseptically collected from sheep livers containing hydatid cyst and used in the experiments. Z. tenuior extract was used at concentration of 3-100 mg/ml for 10-60 min. Viability of protoscolices was determined by 0.1% eosin staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on our results, Z. tenuior extract at concentration of 10 mg/ml killed all protoscolices after 20 min. However, this medicinal plant at concentration of 25 mg/ml destroyed all protoscolices in a shorter exposure time (10 min). Therefore, the scolicidal activity of the extract at 10 and 25 mg/ml concentrations was considerably effective in lower concentrations and shorter exposure times.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study showed that the ethanolic extract of Z. tenuior produces high scolicidal activity; it may be used as an appropriate and effective scolicidal agent in hydatidosis surgery. This is the first report on the protoscolicidal activity of Z. tenuior.
authors: Department of Parasitology, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran; Cellular & Molecular Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
authors: Mojtaba
authors: M
authors: Shahnazi
authors: Cellular & Molecular Biology Research Center, health research institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran; Department of Immunology, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors: Abbas
authors: A
authors: Azadmehr
authors: Department of Parasitology, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
authors: Robabeh
authors: R
authors: Latifi
authors: Department of Pharmacognosy & Pharmaceutics Department of Medicinal Plants Research Center, Institute of Medicinal Plants, ACECR, Karaj, Iran.
authors: Reza
authors: R
authors: Hajiaghaee
authors: Department of Parasitology, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
authors: Mehrzad
authors: M
authors: Saraei
authors: Department of Social Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
authors: Mahmood
authors: M
authors: Alipour
keywords: Hydatid cyst; Hydatidosis; Medicinal plant; Scolicidal; Surgery; Ziziphora tenuior