ANTIFILARIAL EFFECT OF A PLANT CARICA PAPAYA

Abstract

Air-dried and powdered seeds of unripe Carica papaya was administered orally at 60 mg/kg/day for 30 days on four pariah dogs naturally infected with Dirofilaria immitis. The treatment resulted in 80% reduction in microfilarial density on day 30 following the onset of treatment. Microfilarial density rose gradually and the level of reduction in the sampling on day 180 was 52%. In vitro, the drug did not produce any lethal effect on the microfilariae of D. immitis. The prolonged maintenance of the reduced level of microfilarial density may be due to the sizeable reduction of adult worm loads.