Testing for direct anthelmintic effects of bioactive forages against Trichostrongylus colubriformis in grazing sheep

The aim of the present study was to investigate potential direct anthelmintic effects of forages that contain plant secondary metabolites (PSM) towards the intestinal nematode Trichostrongylus colubriformis. For this purpose, we introduced an experimental design, which enabled us to investigate the direct anthelmintic effects of PSM-rich forages, without significant interference of possible indirect immunological effects of PSM. Sixty parasite naïve sheep were infected with 8000 T. colubriformis L 3 on day 1 of the experiment. On day 28, sheep entered one of the experimental plots, which consisted of four PSM-rich forages and one control: Lotus pedunculatus (lotus), Hedysarium coronarium (sulla), Onobrychis viciifolia (sainfoin), Cichorium intybus (chicory) and Lolium perenne/ Trifolium repens (grass/clover). On day 35 of the experiment, all sheep were re-infected with 8000 T. colubriformis L 3 and were killed on day 42. By day 42, all parasites of the primary infection would have been recovered as adults, whereas those of the secondary challenge would have only developed to the fourth stage larvae within a week (i.e. days 35–42). The first batch of larvae would enable us to investigate possible direct anthelmintic effects of PSM-rich forages against adult T. colubriformis, whereas the second one whether grazing on the PSM-rich forages could affect the establishment of the incoming infective larvae. Sheep grazing on lotus tended to have a lower FEC compared to sheep grazing on grass/clover ( P = 0.06), whereas daily faecal output was higher in sheep grazing lotus compared to those grazing on the other forages ( P < 0.05). As a consequence, daily egg output was similar in all sheep. Grazing on the PSM-rich forages for a period of 2 weeks did not affect the immature and adult parasite populations. Although the present experimental design enabled us to test the experimental hypothesis, the lack of evidence on a direct anthelmintic effect of PSM-rich forages can not be considered conclusive, as the composition of PSM-rich forages is variable within and across grazing seasons.