Therapeutic Potential of Moringa oleifera and Curcuma longa on Fascioliasis in a Murine Model

Abstract

Tarfa A. Altorki, Maimonah Alghanmi, Sarah A. Altwaim, Isra Alsaady, Sara H. Mokhtar, Bayan Tashkandi, Hadeel Alsadoun, Rowaida A. Bakri, Hattan Gattan, Majed H. Wakid*, Rowa Alhabbab, Ayat Zawawi

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic disease that affects millions of people in the Middle East. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the antiparasitic impact of Moringa oleifera and Curcuma longa on Fasciola hepatica-infected rats. Rats were divided into four groups: Uninfected negative control; infected untreated positive control; infected and treated with C. longa extract; infected and treated with M. oleifera seed extract. The liver enzymatic activity, egg count, and histopathological impact in infected and uninfected groups were determined, and the therapeutic efficacy was assessed. The study outcomes showed that the treated groups had fewer histopathological markers of Fasciola infection than the untreated group. Furthermore, the treated groups had much-reduced amounts of Fasciola egg in feces, and liver enzymes were retrained near the normal range. This effect was more pronounced in the M. oleifera extract group compared to the C. longa extract group. M. oleifera extracts have demonstrated promising efficacy in the treatment of fascioliasis in animal models.