Paralytic effect of alcoholic extract of Allium sativum and Piper longum on liver amphistome, Gigantocotyle explanatum

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of alcoholic extract of Allium sativum and Piper longum on the muscular activity of a parasitic amphistome, Gigantocotyle explanatum. MATERIALS AND METHODS Amphistomes were isometrically mounted to record the spontaneous muscular activity by using Chart 4 software program (Power Lab, AD Instruments, Australia) and to examine the effects of cumulative doses (100, 300, 1000, and 3000 μg/ml) of the plant extracts on the amplitude (g), frequency (per 10 min), and baseline tension (g) of the spontaneous muscular activity of the amphistome. RESULTS Alcoholic extract of A. sativum produced significant reduction in the frequency and amplitude of contractile activity of the amphistome at 1000 and 3000 μg/ml bath concentrations. Complete paralysis of the amphistome was observed after 15 min of addition of 3000 μg/ml concentration. Alcoholic extract of P. longum also caused paralysis following 15-20 min exposure of the amphistome to 3000 μg/ml concentration. In both the cases the amphistomes did not recover from paralysis following 2-3 washes. CONCLUSION The observations demonstrate the paralytic effect of alcoholic extract of A. sativum and P. longum on G. explanatum.