Indirect Anthelmintic Action of Carbon Tetrachloride against Fasciola hepatica

Abstract

THE value of carbon tetrachloride as an anthelmintic was first reported in 1925¹, and it is now widely used against the liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) in sheep. Although the anthelmintic efficiency and toxicity of carbon tetrachloride have been extensively investigated, the mode of its anthelmintic action has been little investigated. Stephenson² has shown that carbon tetrachloride at a concentration of about 159 µg/ml. in glucose saline was not toxic in vitro for flukes, and a stimulating effect at a concentration of about 790 µg/ml. and a toxic effect at about 1,590 µg/ml. have been reported³. As part of an investigation on the anthelmintic action of carbon tetrachloride, its effect on adult liver flukes has been studied in vitro using flukes freshly recovered from sheep, and in vivo in artificially infested sheep.