Natural products: Perspectives in the pharmacological treatment of gastrointestinal anisakiasis

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate the activity of different natural products against L3 larvae of Anisakis type I. Methods: Information on investigations into the activity of natural products against the L3 larvae of Anisakis simplex was collected from scientific journals, books, theses and reports via a library and electronic search (using Pubmed, Scopus, Medline, Web of Science and ScienceDirect). The search terms included natural products, medicinal plants, essential oils, terpenic derivatives, Anisakis, antinematodal activity. Results: In the literature reviewed numerous papers were found concerning the in vitro and in vivo activity against Anisakis type I of various natural products (plant extracts, essential oils and their major components). Analysis of the results showed that in vitro tests the Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil and the ar-turmerone isolated from Curcuma longa displayed the greatest activity. In vivo, the most active compound was perillaldehyde, the main component of Perilla frutescens essential oil. Conclusions: This study shows that some natural products exhibited promising antianisakis properties.