Scolicidal Effects of Barberry (Berberis vulgaris), Wild Rue Seed (Peganom harmala) and Shirazian Thyme (Zataria multiflora) Extracts on Protoscolices of Hydatid Cysts

Background Surgery is one of the most common strategies to treat hydatidosis reserved as a complementary treatment with chemical agents. Due to low efficacy and the adverse effects of these chemical agents, it is necessary to develop a new and effective scolicidal agent to prevent the recurrence of hydatidosis after surgery. Objectives The current study aimed at investigating the scolicidal effects of Berberis vulgaris, Peganom harmala, and Zataria multiflora methanolic extracts on protoscolices of hydatid cyst. Methods Protoscolices were aseptically obtained from sheep livers infected with hydatid cyst in Hamadan slaughterhouse (Hamadan, Iran). After methanol extraction of herbs, different concentrations of extracts were used in various exposure time for mortality rate assay of protoscolices in laboratory. Results The obtained results showed that various concentrations of B. vulgaris and Z. multiflora extracts could kill 100% of protoscolices after five minutes of exposure and the mean of mortality rate of protoscolices was remarkably higher in the experiment group comparison with that of the control group (P < 0.05). However, the current study findings showed that P. harmala extract at a higher concentration (100 mg/mL) killed 14%, 12%, 12.67%, 15.67%, and 17% of the protoscolices after 5, 10, 15, 20 and 40 minutes of exposure, respectively. There was no significant difference between the experiment and control groups in terms of the mean of mortality rate (P > 0.05). Conclusions The current study findings showed that B. vulgaris and Z. multiflora extracts can be natural sources to develop new scolicidal agents used in hydatid cyst surgery to prevent recurrence of the disease. However, the in vitro examination revealed that the P. harmala extract had no strong scolicidal activities.