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Background  Onchocerciasis is the world’s second leading infectious cause of blindness. Its control is currently hampered by the lack of a macrofilaricidal drug and by severe adverse events observed when the lone recommended microfilaricide, ivermectin is administered to individuals co-infected with  Loa loa . Therefore, there is the need for a safe and effective macrofilaricidal drug that will be able to cure the infection and break transmission cycles, or at least, an alternative microfilaricide that does not kill  L. loa  microfilariae (mf).    Methods  Fourteen extracts from two medicinal plants,  Tragia benthami  and  Piper umbellatum  were screened in vitro against  Onchocerca ochengi  parasite and  L. loa  mf. Activities of extracts on male worms and microfilariae were assessed by motility reduction, while MTT/Formazan assay was used to assess biochemically the death of female worms. Cytotoxicity and acute toxicity of active extracts were tested on monkey kidney cells and Balb/c mice, respectively.    Results  At 500 μg/mL, all extracts showed 100 % activity on  Onchocerca ochengi  males and microfilariae, while 9 showed 100 % activity on female worms. The methylene chloride extract of  Piper umbellatum  leaves was the most active on adult male and female worms (IC 50 s: 16.63 μg/mL and 35.65 μg/mL, respectively). The three most active extracts on  Onchocerca ochengi  females were also highly active on  Loa loa  microfilariae, with IC 50 s of 35.12 - 13.9 μg/mL. Active extracts were generally more toxic to the worms than to cells and showed no acute toxicity to Balb/c mice. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponins, steroids, tannins and flavanoids in the promising extracts.    Conclusions  These results unfold potential sources of novel anti- Onchocerca  lead compounds and validate the traditional use of the plants in onchocerciasis treatment.

Filaricidal activities on Onchocerca ochengi and Loa loa, toxicity and phytochemical screening of extracts of Tragia benthami and Piper umbellatum