In vitro Evaluation of Allium cepa Ethanol Extract in Inhibiting the Growth of Toxocara canis Eggs

Toxocariasis is one of the most significant infectious disease that is caused by T. canis which primarily infect dogs. Dogs become infected by consuming contaminated food that contains either eggs or larvae (L2) encysted in the paratenic hosts. These eggs can resist harsh conditions.

Investigating the effects of onions (Allium cepa) ethanol extracts at varying concentrations (5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 mg/ml) for periods of time (24 and 48 hours) against the unembryonated T. canis eggs growth in vitro was aimed of this study. The positive control group was Drontal® Plus, while the negative control was water.

Upon microscopic, the results indicated that eggs of T. canis treated with A. cepa extract in vitro are sensitive to the extract at different doses and that their activities are time- and concentration-dependent. The highest was observed at dosages of 30 and 50 mg/ml for 24 and 48 hrs. respectively, where the efficacy was 100%. At doses of 20 mg/ml, the extract shows 98.8 and 100% ovicidal efficiency for 24 and 48 hrs. respectively. When compared to the Drontal® Plus group and water group, which were 100 and 11.8%, respectively, the treated T. canis eggs with doses of 5 and 10 mg/ml of A. cepa extract demonstrated ovicidal activity at 24 and 48 hrs., by 88.4, 93.9, 94.3 and 98.6%, respectively.