The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the essential oils of Lippia alba chemotypes carvone and citral on H. contortus. Chemical characterization was performed by means of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The anthelmintic effects of the essential oils were assessed through the egg hatch test (EHT) and the adult worm motility test (AWMT) using a multidrug-resistant H. contortus Kokstad isolate. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) of eggs and adults of H. contortus and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of adults were performed after treatment with oils for qualitative observations of their effects. The carvone chemotype of L. alba (LaCV) presented 70% carvone, and the citral chemotype of L. alba (LaCT) presented 29.4% geranial and 20.4% neral, respectively. In the EHT, the EC50 values of LaCV and LaCT were 0.2 and 0.3 mg/mL, respectively. In AWMT, after 12 h of exposure to 2 mg/mL LaCV and 2 mg/mL LaCT, 100% of adult nematodes were immobile. CLSM showed changes in larval motility inside the egg caused by LaCV, while LaCT promoted changes in larval formation. In adults exposed to both chemotypes, alterations in the anterior portion of the oesophagus were observed. In SEM, morphological changes were observed in the buccal capsule and in the medial portion of H. contortus adults. It is concluded that the two essential oils of L. alba, the chemotypes carvone and citral, caused morphological changes and inhibited the hatching of eggs and the motility of adult H. contortus nematodes.
Keywords: Carvone; Citral; Nematodes; Phytotherapy; Scanning electron microscopy.
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