Medicinal Plants as Promising Alternatives for Treating Helminthiasis: A review

Introduction: Helminth infections pose a significant threat to public health and affect both humans and animals. These infections affect nearly one-fifth of the global population and result in substantial livestock losses. These infections are treated with anthelmintic drugs, but the parasites' resistance to these common drugs suggests the need for new anthelminthic agents. This review elucidates the effectiveness of vegetable compounds against helminth infections with a mode of action similar to that of conventional anthelminthics. Methods: Although several hundred articles were identified, this review found over one hundred and thirty articles relevant to our keywords after sorting them. These articles were selected from databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and BMC, using search terms such as “helminths,” “anthelmintic plants,” and “alternative medicine.” The selected studies focused on helminthiasis and the anthelmintic activity of plants. WHO data were also used to obtain information on the prevalence and epidemiology of helminthiasis. Results: Most conventional anthelminthics, commonly used to treat helminths, belong to the benzimidazole (albendazole, mebendazole), macrocyclic lactone (ivermectin), and pyrazinoisoquinolines (praziquantel) families. However, their frequent use has led to resistance, as reported in numerous studies. Nevertheless, plants can be an alternative, as many plants are used in traditional medicine to treat helminth infections. The anthelmintic effects of these plants are often attributed to their secondary metabolites, including tannins, polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, steroids, terpenoids, essential oils, and fatty acids. These compounds act by inhibiting larval development, egg hatching, and worm motility by damaging worm cuticles, which leads to parasite paralysis and death. However, researchers must focus on clinical tests after isolating the bioactive compound of these plants in the view to setup new anthelmintic drugs to face resistances observed. Conclusion: Many medicinal plants contain anthelmintic molecules that can be used as alternative treatments for helminths. Thus, researchers must investigate more on clinical tests of the isolated bioactive compounds for setting up new anthelminthic drugs.