Enzyme inhibition by molluscicidal agents of Bauhinia variegata and Mimusops elengi in the nervous tissue of Lymnaea acuminata

Water-borne disease fasciolosis with gastropods as intermediate hosts is still a burden for mankind, especially in tropical countries. Fasciolosis is caused by two trematodes Fasciola hepatica (the common liver fluke) and Fasciola gigantica (the large liver fluke) [1,2]. Fasciolosis is a common disease of many wild and domestic animals, especially sheep, goat, cattle[2,3]. The total global economic loss such as reduction of milk and meat yields, attributed to fasciolosis has been estimated earlier to be more than $3 billion per year[4]. Fresh water snail of Lymnaea acuminata (family: Lymnaeidae) (L. acuminata)is the intermediate host of liver fluke Fasciola gigantica. It causes endemic fasciolosis in cattle population in the eastern region of the state Uttar Pradesh, India[1]. Snail control is one of the best approaches of combating the disease. Snails can be controlled indirectly by destroying their habitat or directly by killing them. Singh et al.[5] have noted that Bauhinia variegata (B. variegata) leaf and Mimusops elengi (M. elengi) bark and their active components quercetin and saponin are potent molluscicides. Both plants have great pharmacological and biological aspects[6,7]. The mode of action by which they cause snail mortality is not known. Present study was to explain our previous study aimed at elucidating the effect of plant molluscicidal agent on certain enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in the nervous tissue of snail L. acuminata.