In vivo hypoglycemic, antinociceptive and in vitro antioxidant activities of methanolic bark extract of Crataeva nurvala

Objective: To rationalize the folkloric use of hypoglycemic, antinociceptive and antioxidant potentials with phytochemical screening of methanolic bark extract of Crataeva nurvala (C. nurvala) in vivo and in vitro. Methods: The collected bark was dried and grinded. The coarse powder was soaked in 2000 mL of 90% methanol for several days then filtrated. At 40 °C the volume of crude methanolic extract (CME) was reduced by a vacuum rotary evaporator, then the aqueous methanol extract was separated into petroleum ether, carbon tetrachloride, and aqueous soluble fractions by Kupchan protocol. Then the extracts were subjected to evaluate in vivo analgesic, hypoglycemic activities in Swiss albino mice model and antioxidant in vitro. Results: In quantitative phytochemical analysis, total phenolic content was found maximum (235.94 mg of GAE/g) in aqueous soluble fraction;in case of antioxidant potentials, DPPH free radical scavenging assay showed IC50 value of 9.25 μg/mL exhibited by aqueous soluble fraction in comparison to ascorbic acid (8.27 μg/mL) as a reference standard. The CMEs potentially (P < 0.05) reduced the acetic acid-induced writhing and increased (P < 0.05;P< 0.01) latency period in the tail immersion method at a dose dependent manner. The CME significantly reduced blood sugar level of diabetic rat induced by alloxan monohydrate. Conclusions: This study was conducted to validate the extensive use of C. nurvala bark as folk medicine with antinociceptive, hypoglycemic and antioxidant effects. It can be concluded that the bark of C. nurvala possesses good antinociceptive, moderate hypoglycemic and antioxidant activities. However, further chemical and pharmacological revise are needed to elucidate the detail mode of action behind this and identify the responsible active principles.

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.