Biological investigations of medicinal plants of Heliotropium indicum indigenous to Bangladesh

Objective:To investigate the clot lysis,antimicrobic and membrane stabilizing potentials of ethanolic extractives of the leaves of Heliotropium indicum(H.indicum).Methods:Crude ethanolic extracts of H.indicum leaves were partitioned successively using solvents of different polarity and subjected to determine qualitatively and quantitatively for the presence of different bioactive constitutes and fractions which were assessed for their possible clot lysis,antimicrobic,and membrane stabilizing activities as compared with the known drugs.Results:For the thrombolytic activity,the petroleum ether soluble fraction showed the highest percent of clot lysis(35.4%)among all fractions,while streptokinase and water resulted in 65.15%and 3.77%clot lysis,respectively.With respect to the membrane stabilizing activity,carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction of H.indicum profoundly interdicted the hemolysis of erythrocytes brought about by osmotic induction(39.24%)or by heat(40.20%).The other fractions exhibited less significant membrane stabilizing effect.By contrast,acetylsalicylic acid resulted in 72.25%±0.30%inhibition of osmotically induced hemolysis and showed a lower level of protection of heat induced hemolysis(42.56%).Crude ethanolic extracts were moderately sensitive against known pathogenic microbes.Since pharmacological activities of H.indicum are due to the presence of bioactive compounds,we detected and quantified the presence of significant levels of flavonoid and tannin substances.Conclusions:The outcomes of this research show that the leaves of H.indicum have the potential to be used as a remedy for thrombosis,inflammatory diseases and against few important bacterial pathogens.