Hepatoprotective activity of silymarin in combination with clorsulon against fasciola hepatica in naturally infected sheep

Abstract

Fasciolosis is a parasitic infection with socioeconomic implications that causes essential health problems in animals throughout the world. The current study intended to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of silymarin alone and in combination with clorsulon in sheep naturally infected with Fasciola hepatica. For this purpose, a total of 40 sheep (Sangsari breed) were divided into five groups as follows: 1) the healthy sheep without treatment (the negative control), 2) the infected sheep without treatment (the positive control), 3) the infected sheep treated with silymarin (280 mg orally from the day 1 to 14), 4) the infected sheep treated with clorsulon (7.5 mg/kg orally on the days 5, 10, and 15), and 5) the infected sheep treated with silymarin + clorsulon. The assessed serum parameters included total bilirubin, total protein, albumin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT). Additionally, histopathological changes in naturally F. hepatica-infected sheep and controls were investigated using light microscopy. Biochemical analysis showed significantly lower levels of AST, ALT, ALP, GGT, bilirubin, protein, and albumin in infected animals than in the healthy group (P<0.05). Silymarin plus clorsulon treatment showed a remarkable improvement in both biochemical and histopathological parameters (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results of the biochemical analysis were in line with the pathological findings showing that silymarin, in combination with clorsulon, was superior to each compound alone in terms of hepatoprotective activity.

Keywords

• fasciola hepatica
• sheep
• silymarin
• hepatoprotective
• biochemical parameters
• clorsulon