A review of the effect of medicinal plant on helminthic infections

Abstract

Nowadays, parasitic worm infection is one of the most critical global health problems. Worm infections cause severe detriments to the livestock industry and also it can cause irreparable damages to immunocompromised persons. Therefore, the present study aimed to review conducted research on the treatment of worm diseases using medicinal plants’ extract. In this systematic review, seven databases including 4 English (Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar) and 3 Persian databases (Magiran, ISC, SID) were obtained between 2008 and 2020 to evaluate conducted studies related to the aim of the current review. Most of the studies focused on the Balanites aegyptiaca and Carica papaya plant. Water was the most common solvent (38.1%) and then it was methanol. The most studied parasite was Haemonchus contortus (35.5%), followed by Aacharidia galli (10.5%). Studies showed that plant extracts could reduce effect of worm infections in the host compared to synthetic drugs. Plant extracts can produce a medicine based on natural compounds and effective on worms with fewer side effects than synthetic drugs.