Molluscicidal and in-vitro schistosomicidal activities of the latex and some extracts of some plants belonging to Euphorbiacea.

Plant molluscicicdes proved to be good means for controlling fresh water snails of schistosomiasis. The molluscicidal activities of the natural and lyophilized latex extracts of Euphorbia royleana and E. mouritanica and acetonitril and chloroform extracts of Jatropha carcus were investigated against Biomphalaria alexandrina the intermediate hosts for S. mansoni. The lyophilized latex extract of E. royleana showed the highest toxicity against snails with LC90 value of 11 ppm. While the natural latex extract of E. mouritanica showed the lowest toxicity against snails with LC90 value of 60 ppm. While, the acetonitril extract of Jatropha carcus gave high toxicity against snails with LC90 value of 6 ppm and the chloroform extract gave low toxicity against snails with LC90 value of 55 ppm. The in-vitro schistosomicidal activities of the lyophilized latex extract of E. royleana and the acetonitril extract of J. carcus were studied against S. mansoni adults showed that the lyophilized latex extract of E. royleana gave 100% mortality after exposure to 30 ppm for 4 consecutive days and 66.7% mortality after exposure to 10 ppm for 5 consecutive days. The acetonitril extract of J. carcus gave 91.7% mortality after exposure to 100 ppm for 4 consecutive days and 58.3% mortality after exposure to 50 ppm for 5 consecutive days.