In vitro anthelmintic activity of Chenopodium ambrosioides for control of Neoechinorhyncus buttnerae in tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)

Neoechinorhyncus buttnerae is among the main causative agents of diseases in tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) and has caused great losses in fish farming. Although important, there is still no effective treatment protocol for acanthocephalosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro anthelmintic activity of Chenopodium ambrosioides (mastruz) in the control of Neoechinorhyncus buttnerae. Parasites were collected from the intestine of naturally infected animals and randomly distributed in Petri dishes containing the following treatments in triplicate and standardized in 5 mL of RPMI1640 medium: TR1 (RPMI+spray-dried extract of mastruz 10%); TR2 (RPMI+spray-dried extract 5%); positive control (RPMI+levamisole 15 mg/mL); negative control (RPMI). The parasites were kept at room temperature and observed every 15 min, and were considered dead when they remained motionless even after external stimuli. Body deformities were observed in parasites after exposure to treatments (TR1 and TR2), and both treatments with spray-dried extract of mastruz were effective in controlling acanthocephalans in the first 15 min of the experiment. Therefore, mastruz has been shown to be an effective alternative for the control of N. buttnerae and has the potential for continuing in vivo studies with the aim of developing a therapeutic protocol.