Ascaridole-less infusions of Chenopodium ambrosioides contain a nematocide(s) that is(are) not toxic to mammalian smooth muscle

Infusions of Chenopodium ambrosioides (L.) have been used for centuries in the Americas as a popular remedy against intestinal worm infections. The essential oil of Chenopodium ambrosioides contains high levels of ascaridole, which is a potent anthelmintic, but which has also been responsible for hu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of ethnopharmacology Vol. 92; no. 2; pp. 215 - 221
Main Authors:	MacDonald, D, VanCrey, K, Harrison, P, Rangachari, P.K, Rosenfeld, J, Warren, C, Sorger, G
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01-06-2004 Elsevier
Subjects:	Animals anthelmintics Antinematodal Agents - isolation & purification Antinematodal Agents - pharmacology Antinematodal Agents - toxicity Ascaridole Biological and medical sciences Caenorhabditis elegans Caenorhabditis elegans - drug effects Chenopodium ambrosioides Chenopodium ambrosioides - chemistry essential oils Gastrointestinal Tract - drug effects General pharmacology In Vitro Techniques Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Male Medical sciences Medicinal plant medicinal plants Monoterpenes - pharmacology Monoterpenes - toxicity Muscle Contraction - drug effects Muscle, Smooth - drug effects nematicidal properties Nematocide Peroxides - pharmacology Peroxides - toxicity Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food Pharmacology. Drug treatments Plant Extracts - isolation & purification Plant Extracts - pharmacology Plant Extracts - toxicity Plant Leaves - chemistry Rats Rats, Sprague-Dawley America Caenorhabditis elegans NMR Nematocide DMSO Ascaridole kDa Chenopodium ambrosioides Medicinal plant Agonist Anthelmintic Rat Smooth muscle Extract Gastrointestinal Infusion Cholinergic receptor Dicotyledones Angiospermae Essential oil Nematoda Nicotinic receptor Human Stomach Digestive system Pharmacognosy Rodentia Gut Chenopodiaceae Parasympathomimetic Infection Vertebrata Chenopodium Mammalia Carbachol Animal Helmintha Parasiticide Nemathelminthia Muscarinic receptor Spermatophyta Invertebrata
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Summary:	Infusions of Chenopodium ambrosioides (L.) have been used for centuries in the Americas as a popular remedy against intestinal worm infections. The essential oil of Chenopodium ambrosioides contains high levels of ascaridole, which is a potent anthelmintic, but which has also been responsible for human fatalities, leading to its disuse. Almost 90% of the nematocidal activity of Chenopodium ambrosioides infusions was due to a hydrophilic component different from ascaridole. Synthetic ascaridole and the ascaridole from infusions, extracted into hexane, caused a reduction of carbachol-induced contractions in rat gastrointestinal smooth muscle at concentrations required to kill Caenorhabditis elegans (L.). The herbal infusion and the ascaridole-free hexane-extracted aqueous residue of the above infusion, at nematocidal concentractions, had no detectable effect on smooth muscle contraction in the above system. It would appear that the traditional form of useage of Chenopodium ambrosioides infusions as a vermifuge is safer than the use of the herb’s essential oil.
ISSN:	0378-8741 1872-7573
DOI:	10.1016/j.jep.2004.02.018