In Vitro Determination of Ovicidal and Larvicidal Activity of Curcumin on Toxocara canis Eggs

Abstract

Curcuma longa rhizome is the source of turmeric. Curcumin exhibits some encouraging antiparasitic properties in helminths. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the ovicidal and larvicidal activities of curcumin in Toxocara canis eggs in vitro. Curcumin dilutions (36.8 mg/ml, 18.4 mg/ml and 3.6 mg/ml) were prepared by adding RPMI-1640. The eggs and hatched infective-stage larvae were incubated with curcumin dilutions for 6, 12 or 24 hours. The ovicidal activity was evaluated after 28 days. Larvicidal activity was assessed after completing each incubation time. In the present study, no changes in the eggshell structure were observed in all curcumin groups. The lowest embryogenesis rate (75%) was observed only at the highest curcumin dilution (36.8 mg/ml) at the 12- and 24-hour incubations, but the difference was not found statistically significant. No significant larvicidal effect of curcumin was detected. The percentage of moving larvae was 80% at 12 hours and 76% at 24 hours in the highest curcumin dilution (36.8 mg/ml). T. canis larvae survived in RPMI-1640 for four days after being incubated with 36.8 mg/ml curcumin for 24 hours. However, the untreated larvae were still active at this time. Further studies focusing on the migration of T. canis infective larvae in animal models may shed light on the effect of curcumin, which is rapidly metabolized in the body and absorbed at low levels from the intestine, on the migrating larva.