Evaluation of a combination of Citrus aurantium var. Dulcis essential oil and albendazole for the treatment of sheep gastrointestinal nematodes.

Citrus fruits are consumed all over the world and their by-products are used for animal feed and essential oils production. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo activity of Citrus aurantium var. Dulcis essential oil (CaEO) combined with ABZ against benzimidazole resistant Haemonchus contortus. In vitro egg hatching assays (EHA) were performed using CaEO and ABZ to estimate the effective concentration to achieve 50% egg death (EC50) values and calculate the test essential oil and drug combinations using a simplex-centroid mixture design. These concentrations were used for a second round of EHAs. Sixteen sheep were randomly allocated into two groups and treated with ABZ and the combination of CaEO and ABZ, and faecal egg count reduction tests were performed. In the first round of EHA, CaEO and ABZ showed EC50 values of 0.57 and 0.0048 mg mL-1, respectively. The H. contortus strain used in the study was shown to be highly benzimidazole resistant, with only 1.5% of parasites having susceptible ß-tubulin SNP genotypes. The ABZ reduced the shedding of nematode eggs by 78%, however, its combination with CaEO reduced faecal egg counts by only 9%. The present study is important to highlight the interferences of natural products in anthelmintic metabolism and consequently in drug efficacy.

Is the metabolism of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 age-dependent in dairy cows?

It has recently been demonstrated that prepartum administered 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OHD3) is a promising candidate to assist the maintenance of peripartal calcium homeostasis in dairy cows. Since the incidence of peripartal hypocalcemia and the reported beneficial effects of the treatment are both associated with the lactation number, we investigated pharmacokinetic aspects of 25-OHD3 related to the age of dairy cows. The daily oral administration of 3mg 25-OHD3 in rapeseed oil as well as a treatment with 4 and 6mg included in the feed during the last eight to ten days of gestation resulted in linear dosage- and age-dependent increases in plasma 25-OHD3. After parturition the administration was stopped and blood samples were taken to calculate the plasma half-life. Irrespective of the supplemented dosage, cows starting the 2nd lactation showed a significantly longer plasma half-life of 25-OHD3 than cows starting the 3rd or higher lactation. Age-dependent differences in the increase of plasma 25-OHD3 could already be found before parturition when calcium homeostasis was not yet significantly challenged. Additionally, no correlations between plasma half-life of 25-OHD3 and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, PTH or the bone resorption marker CrossLaps were observed after parturition. Thus we conclude that the influence of the lactation number on the pharmacokinetics of 25-OHD3 is related directly to the age of the cows. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Vitamin D Workshop'.