Abstract
AIM: Haemonchus contortus is the most pathogenic nematode infesting the digestive tract of goats and sheep worldwide leading to a tremendous loss in a variety of routes. Economic losses due to haemonchosis in subtropic and tropic areas are usually caused by poor weight gain, minimized growth, loss of production, and mortality. The prevalence of haemonchosis in Indonesia is 89.4% in goat, and annual loss achieved 1 million US dollars. This study evaluated in vitro effects of Gigantochloa apus crude aqueous extract as an anthelmintic on H. contortus morphology and morphometry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bligon goats which are naturally infected were collected from slaughtered goat from local slaughterhouses, namely Besi Sleman. Bligon goat's abomasum part was carefully examined and transported to the Parasitology Laboratory, University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta. H. contortus was obtained from 4 to 6-month-old female goat from slaughterhouses in Yogyakarta area. H. contortus was collected from abomasum and put into a Petri dish containing 0.62% water saline. The number of H. contortus used for each concentration is 25. H. contortus was soaked in each concentration for 4 h. The figure of the parasites or parts of parasites was captured using camera Lucida, and they were measured using both objective micrometer and objective ocular micrometer. All the capturing processes were done with the help of Olympus Digital Camera under Olympus CX21 microscopic. Parasite morphology was identified in morphological and morphometric characters. RESULT: Morphology of H. contortus revealed the cervical papillae bulge appears unclear shape and anterior end is more tapered. Vulvar flab control is not tapered, but vulvar flab which gets aware of G. apus crude aqueous extract looks more pointed. The gubernaculum appears irregular compared to gubernaculum control which tends to be more compact, and the posterior end form appears irregular more than posterior end control. Morphometry study of H. contortus indicates that it has a significant difference for body length, body width, cervical papillae, and spicule length in the male. CONCLUSION: G. apus crude aqueous extract activity revealed morphology change such as cervical papillae, vulvar flab, gubernaculum, posterior end, and reduced morphometry measurement of H. contortus adult worms, notably in body length, body width, cervical papillae width, gubernaculum, and spicule length in males and body length, body width, cervical papillae width, and vulva length in females.