ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF WRIGHTIA TINCTORIA LEAVES
Wrightia tinctoria (Family: Apocynaceae) is commonly known as „Jaundice cure tree‟ has been used extensively in the Indian system of medicine for the treatment of various diseases like psoriasis, jaundice etc. Anthelmintics are drugs that expel parasitic worms (helminths) from the body, by either stunning or killing them. They may also be called vermifuges or vermicides. Helminthes infections are now being recognized as cause of many acute as well as chronic ill health‟s among the various human beings. Treatment with an anthelminthic drug kills worms whose genotype renders them susceptible to the drug. The present study evaluates anthelmintic activity of methanolic extract of leaves of Wrightia tinctoria using adult earthworms. The above activity was carried out using the extract at concentration (5-50µg/ml) using Piperazine citrate as standard, distilled water as control and the leaf extract showed potent and significant anthelmintic activity as compared to standard drug piperazine citrate and thus found to be effective as an anthelmintic drug.