BACKGROUND: This study evaluated in vitro antigiardial activity in four Indonesian plants (Archidendron fagifolium, Diospyros sumatrana, Piper betle and Shorea sumatrana) extracted in methanol, methanol-tetrahydrofuran, and water. These plants exhibiting promising anti-parasitic activity were selected on the basis of collected behavioral data and their ability to decrease parasite load in Sumatran orangutans. Extracts of Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant routinely used as a laboratory model in research, were used as a negative control. METHODS: Plant extracts of different concentrations (400, 100, 25 and 6.25 µg/ml) and metronidazole (100 µg/ml), a standard giardicidal drug, were incubated with 25,000 trophozoites per milliliter of growth medium in 12-well tissue culture plates under anaerobic conditions for 72 h. Cultures were counted in a hemocytometer using a light microscope and then statistically evaluated. The cytotoxicity of the extracts was determined by the MTT Cell Viability Assay. RESULTS: We recorded a statistically-significant decrease in giardia trophozoites in two extracts: the methanolic extract of A. fagifolium (Kruskal-Wallis: p = 0.013) and the aqueous extract of P. betle (Kruskal-Wallis: p = 0.002). Effective concentrations of 400 µg/ml and 100 µg/ml, respectively, were revealed. Cytotoxicity was not demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study show that extracts of A. fagifolium and P. betle have potential as an alternative treatment of G. intestinalis infection. This is the first scientific proof of the biological activity of A. fagifolium, confirming the assumption that orangutans use this plant (as well as P. betle) for self-medication.

• Keywords
• Giardia intestinalis, Antigiardial activity, Drug of choice, Natural antiparasitic, Parasite,
• MeSH
• Antiprotozoal Agents * pharmacology   MeSH
• Diospyros * chemistry   MeSH
• Giardia lamblia * drug effects   MeSH
• Piper betle chemistry   MeSH
• Plant Extracts * pharmacology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Indonesia MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Antiprotozoal Agents * MeSH
• Plant Extracts * MeSH

With many non-human primates (NHPs) showing continued population decline, there is an ongoing need to better understand their ecology and conservation threats. One such threat is the risk of disease, with various bacterial, viral and parasitic infections previously reported to have damaging consequences for NHP hosts. Strongylid nematodes are one of the most commonly reported parasitic infections in NHPs. Current knowledge of NHP strongylid infections is restricted by their typical occurrence as mixed infections of multiple genera, which are indistinguishable through traditional microscopic approaches. Here, modern metagenomics approaches were applied for insight into the genetic diversity of strongylid infections in South-East and East Asian NHPs. We hypothesized that strongylid nematodes occur in mixed communities of multiple taxa, dominated by Oesophagostomum, matching previous findings using single-specimen genetics. Utilizing the Illumina MiSeq platform, ITS-2 strongylid metabarcoding was applied to 90 samples from various wild NHPs occurring in Malaysian Borneo and Japan. A clear dominance of Oesophagostomum aculeatum was found, with almost all sequences assigned to this species. This study suggests that strongylid communities of Asian NHPs may be less species-rich than those in African NHPs, where multi-genera communities are reported. Such knowledge contributes baseline data, assisting with ongoing monitoring of health threats to NHPs.

• Keywords
• helminth, metabarcoding, non-human primate, orangutan, strongylida,
• MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Genetic Variation * MeSH
• Strongylida Infections veterinary   parasitology   epidemiology   MeSH
• Metagenomics MeSH
• Monkey Diseases parasitology   epidemiology   MeSH
• Primate Diseases * parasitology   MeSH
• Oesophagostomum genetics   classification   MeSH
• Primates * parasitology   MeSH
• Strongylida genetics   classification   isolation & purification   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Borneo MeSH
• Japan MeSH