Mirzaiedehaghi.indd INTRODUCTION Malignant theileriosis of sheep is a highly fatal acute or subacute disease caused by the tick-borne proto- zoan parasite, Theileria lestoquardi which is trans- mitted by ticks of the family Ixodidae, particularly Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum (Hooshmand-Rad & Hawa 1973; Morel & Uilenberg 1981). The chemo- therapeutic efficacy of a number of compounds includ ing parvaquone (Clexon) and buparvaquone (Butalex) has been tested for the treatment of the disease. Tests have shown that these two com- pounds are effective (Hooshmand-Rad 1989) but they are not easily and quickly eliminated from the body of animals (McHardy, Wekesa, Hudson & Randall 1985) which can constitute a public health hazard if milk and meat of treated animals are con- sumed by humans. The therapeutic effect of the alka loids of the plant Peganum harmala has been investigated for the treatment of tropical theileriosis in cattle which is caused by Theileria annulata and it was shown that they are effective (Fan, Liang, Men, Gao, Li, Zhao, Hu, Dang, Zhang, Preston & Yin 1997; Hu, Fan, Liang, Zhao, Dang, Gao, Dong, Preston & Yin 1997) In addition, it has been shown that these alkaloids, when inoculated intramuscularly do not infiltrate the muscular tissue surrounding the inocu- lation site but are also rapidly eliminated from the body (Puzii & Serov 1983). The objective of this study was to study the effect of total alkaloids of P. harmala when used for the treatment of naturally infected cases of ovine malignant theileriosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred sheep suffering from natural infections of malignant theileriosis and belonging to farmers were selected. They were of different ages but all were in the primary phase of the disease as deter- mined by microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained prescapular lymph node biopsy smears in which 153 Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 73:153–155 (2006) RESEARCH COMMUNICATION Treatment of natural ovine malignant theileriosis with a chloroform extract of the plant Peganum harmala M. MIRZAIEDEHAGHI* Pathobiology Department, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman Kerman, Iran ABSTRACT MIRZAIEDEHAGHI, M. 2006. Treatment of natural ovine malignant theileriosis with a chloroform ex- tract of the plant Peganum harmala. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 73:153–155 One hundred sheep naturally infected with Theileria lestoquardi were treated with a chloroform extract of the plant Peganum harmala. The treatment was continued for 5 days, the dose of extract being 5 mg/kg per day. Sixty-five of the sheep responded to treatment and recovered but 35 did not and died. The cure rate was 65 %. Keywords: Malignant ovine theileriosis, Peganum harmala extract, sheep, Theileria lestoquardi * E-mail: dr_mirzaie_mo@mail.uk.ac.ir Accepted for publication 19 January 2006—Editor 154 Treatment of ovine malignant theileriosis with chloroform extract of Peganum harmala fairly numerous schizonts were present. Similar ex- amination of blood smears revealed that piroplasm parasitaemia was rare. In addition, only one or both prescapular lymph node(s) were slightly to moder- ately enlarged and the rectal temperature was be- tween 40.5 and 41.9 °C. A chloroform extract of P. harmala was prepared from the stems and leaves of the plant according to the method described by Mir- zaie & Shaddel (2004). This was administered intra- muscularly to the sheep at a dosage rate of 5 mg/kg body mass once a day for 5 days (Fan et al. 1997). After treatment the rectal temperature of the sheep was measured daily in the morning until it dropped to normal values. Their vigor, appetite, visible mu- cous membranes and other signs were observed clin ically every day. In addition, Giemsa-stained smears prepared every three days from biopsy ma- terial of a prescapular lymph node and blood smears were examined for 20 days after commencement of the treatment. RESULTS Before treatment lymph node biopsy smears from enlarged prescapular nodes and blood smears showed schizonts or piroplasms, respectively, of T. lestoquardi in all the sheep. However, 12–20 days after the commencement of the treatment schizonts and piroplasms could not be detected in 65 of the sheep. In addition other clinical signs and fever dis- appeared in these sheep and they all recovered. The clinical signs and parasitemia of the other 35 sheep became progressively more severe and all of them died. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION In this study 65 % of the sheep recovered after treat- ment but in another experiment reported by Mirzaie & Shaddel (2004) five sheep which had been ex- perimentally infected with T. lestoquardi and then treated with an extract containing the alkaloids of P. harmala, all recovered. The reasons for this appar- ent discrepancy in the success rate of the treatment in our experiment and that of Mirzaie & Shaddel (2004) could be the different environmental condi- tions in which their sheep were maintained, the small numbers of sheep they used and the fact that the infection was experimentally induced. Our results are in agreement with that of other experiments in which the alkaloids of P. harmala were used for the treat- ment of tropical theileriosis in cattle (Agaev, Mirza- bekov, Gumbatov & Mirzabekov 1977; Vecherkin, Puzii, Romakhov & Tribunskii 1977; Charyev & Khu- daiberdyev 1978; Levchenko 1978, 1979; Puzii, Vet- chorkin, Romakhov & Vecherkin 1979; Puzii, Vecher- kin, Toptaev, Tsyganova & Duisheev 1982; Fan et al. 1997; Hu et al. 1997). REFERENCES AGAEV, A.A., MIRZABEKOV, D.A., GUMBATOV, M.G. & MIR- ZABEKOV, K.D. 1977. The protection of imported breeding cattle from blood parasitic diseases in Azerbaidzhan. USSR, Azerbaidzhanskii Nauchno-Issledovatel’skii Institut Infor matsii i Tekhniko-Ekonomicheskikh Issledovanii Gosplana Azerbaid- zhanskoi SSR: Abstracts of papers of the Scientific Con fer- ence dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Azerbaidzhani Veterinary Research Institute: 95–96. CHARYEV, O.C. & KHUDAIBERDYEV, D. 1978. The therapeutic efficacy of “Garmala” against theileriasis.Trudy-Turkmens- kogo-Sel’skokhozyaistvennogo-Instituta, 20:107–108. FAN, B., LIANG, J., MEN, J., GAO, F., LI, G., ZHAO, S., HU, T., DANG, P., ZHANG, L., PRESTON, P.M. & YIN, H. 1997. Effect of total alkaloid of Peganum harmala L. in the treat- ment of experimental haemosporidian infections in cattle. Pro ceedings of the European Union International Symposium on Ticks and Tickborne diseases,Tropical Animal Health and Production, 29:4 (supplement), 77S–83S. HOOSHMAND-RAD, P. 1989. Chemotherapy in ovine malignant theileriosis. Archive Institute Razi, 40:1–8. HOOSHMAND-RAD, P. & HAWA, N.J. 1973. Transmission of Theil eria lestoquardi in sheep by Hyalomma anatolicum ana- tolicum.Tropical Animal Health and Production, 5:103–109. HU, T.J., FAN, B.T., LIANG, J., ZHAO, S., DANG, P., GAO, F., DONG, M.X., PRESTON, P.M. & YIN, H. 1997. Observations on the treatment of natural haemosporidian infections by to- tal alkaloid of Peganum harmala L. in cattle. Proceedings of the European Union International Symposium on Ticks and Tickborne Diseases. Tropical Animal Health and Produc tion, 29:4 (supplement), 72S–76S. LEVCHENKO, F.F. 1978. Comparative study of 3 chemothera- peutic preparations against natural theileriasis in cattle. Trudy Nauchno Issledovatel’skogo Veterinarnogo Instituta Tadzhik- skoi SSR, 8:117–119. LEVCHENKO, F.F. 1979. The efficacy of Peganum harmala alka- loids in the treatment of theileriasis in cattle. Trudy Nauch no Issledovatel’skogo Veterinarnogo Instituta Tadzhikskoi SSR, 9:89–92. MCHARDY, N., WEKESA, L.S., HUDSON, A.T. & RANDALL, A.W. 1985. Antitheilerial activity of BW720C (buparvaquone): a comparison with parvaquone. Research in Veterinary Sci- ence, 39:29–33. MIRZAIE, M. & SHADDEL, F. 2004. 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