First report of Ophiotaenia sp. in frogs (Amietophrynus kassasii) from Egypt and in vitro anticestodal activity of Sinularia sp. extract

Vet World Vol.18 December-2025 Article - 11

Research Article

Veterinary World, 18(12): 3815-3825

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2025.3815-3825

Barakat Shehata Abd elmaleck¹

, Mahmoud Abdelhamid²

, Abdallah Alian³, Hind Alzaylaee⁴, George D. Zouganelis⁵, Gaber El-Saber Batiha⁶, Marwa Adel Thabet⁷, and Fatma A. S. Anwar⁷

1. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, New Valley University, El Kharga, New Valley, Egypt.

2. Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aswan University, Aswan, 81528, Egypt.

3. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Assiut, Egypt.

4. Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia.

5. Department of Biomedical and Forensic Sciences, School of Sciences, College of Science & Engineering, University of Derby, Kedleston Rd, DE22 1GB, Derby, United Kingdom.

6. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, Damanhour, 2251, AlBeheira, Egypt.

7. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.

Background and Aim: Ophiotaenia species are globally distributed proteocephalidean cestodes that commonly parasitize amphibians and reptiles. Despite the ecological importance of frogs in controlling insect populations and maintaining food-web stability, data on cestode infections in Egyptian amphibians remain scarce. This study provides the first documentation of Ophiotaenia sp. infecting Amietophrynus kassasii in Egypt and evaluating the in vitro anticestodal activity of Sinularia sp. extract against adult tapeworms.

Materials and Methods: A total of 85 frogs were collected from freshwater ponds in New Valley Governorate, Egypt, between February and September 2024. Intestines were examined for cestodes, which were identified morphologically using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Soft coral Sinularia sp. extract was prepared by methanolic extraction, and three concentrations (25, 50, 100 μg/mL) were assessed for anticestodal efficacy using motility, paralysis, and mortality endpoints. Tapeworms from the control and highest-dose groups were subjected to SEM to evaluate tegumental alterations.

Results: Ophiotaenia sp. infection was detected in 5 of 85 frogs (5.9%), with a notably high mean intensity of 70 parasites per host. The recovered cestodes measured 12–30 mm × 0.7–0.9 mm, featuring a scolex with two spherical suckers and a distinct apical organ. Gut-content analysis of infected frogs revealed coleopteran, orthopteran, and hymenopteran insects as probable intermediate or paratenic hosts. Sinularia sp. extract exhibited clear dose-dependent anticestodal activity. Mortality occurred at 7.58 ± 0.15 h (25 μg/mL), 5.79 ± 0.08 h (50 μg/mL), and 4.247 ± 0.09 h (100 μg/mL), compared with 70.39 ± 1.23 h in controls. SEM analysis of treated cestodes showed profound tegumental erosion, sucker shrinkage, cirrus sac constriction, and proglottid contraction, indicating severe structural disruption.

Conclusion: This study documents the first occurrence of Ophiotaenia sp. in A. kassasii in Egypt and provides evidence that Sinularia sp. extract possesses strong, dose-dependent anticestodal properties. The pronounced tegumental damage observed suggests potent cestocidal mechanisms. These findings offer new insights into amphibian parasitology in Egypt and support the potential development of marine-derived natural products as alternative anthelmintics.

Keywords: Amietophrynus kassasii, anthelmintic, cestode, Ophiotaenia, scanning electron microscopy, Sinularia.

How to cite this article: Abd elmaleck BS, Abdelhamid M, Alian A, Alzaylaee H, Zouganelis GD, Batiha GE, Thabit MA, and Anwar FAS (2025) First report of Ophiotaenia sp. in frogs (Amietophrynus kassasii) from Egypt and in vitro anticestodal activity of Sinularia sp. extract, Veterinary World, 18(12): 3815–3825.

Received: 01-08-2025 Accepted: 10-11-2025 Published online: 13-12-2025

Corresponding author: Barakat Shehata Abd elmaleck E-mail: barakatshehata1@gmail.com/barakatshehata@sci.nvu.edu.eg

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2025.3815-3825

Copyright: Abd elmaleck, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.