In Vitro Assessment of the Protoscolicidal Activities of the Ephedra major Methanol Extracts

The basic approaches for the treatment of human hydatidosis are surgery and chemotherapy. The risk of spillage of protoscoleces cannot be underestimated during surgery.
This study aimed to evaluate the scolicidal activity of Ephedra major methanol extracts against protoscoleces of hydatid cysts.
Various concentrations of the methanolic extracts (0.01%-0.001%, mg/mL) of different parts of E. major were used for exposure times of 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes.
Different extracts of E. major were tested, 0.1% concentration had strong scolicidal activity in 60 minutes. The stem extracts of 0.1% had very strong scolicidal effects in 60 minutes of exposure time and the mortality rate decreased with the lower concentration.
Findings showed that scolicidal effects of E. major root extracts against cystic echinococcosis protoscoleces were less effective, while the stem and leaf extracts demonstrated more activities, respectively.