Hydromethanolic Crude Extract of the Leaf of Urtica simensis Hochst. ex. A. Rich. (Urticaceae) Acquires Appreciable Antiulcer Effect: Validation for In Vivo Antiulcer Activity

Embryo and Fetal Toxic Effects of the Hydroethanol Extract of Urtica simensis Hochst. Ex. A. Rich Leaves in Pregnant Rats

Introduction: Urtica simensis has been used to treat various diseases such as malaria, hypertension, diabetes, gonorrhea, gastritis, body swelling, and wound infections. However, the safety of consuming U. simensis leaves during pregnancy has not been evaluated yet. Therefore, this experimental study was conducted to evaluate the toxic effects of U. simensis leaf extract on the prenatal development of embryos and fetuses in pregnant rats. Methods: Fifty pregnant Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned to five groups of 10 gravid rats for each experiment. Groups I-III were given 70% ethanol leaf extract of U. simensis at doses of 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg daily from 6th to 12th days of gestation. Groups IV-V were kept as pair-fed and ad libitum controls. The developing embryos and fetuses were retrieved on 12 days and 20 days of gestation, respectively. Embryos were evaluated for growth and developmental delays. Fetuses were also assessed for growth retardation and external and visceral anomalies. Results: In the embryonic experiment, somite numbers (p=0.001) and morphological scores (p=0.029) were significantly decreased in pregnant rats given 1000 mg/kg of U. simensis leaf extract. Embryonic developments of the caudal neural tube (CNT) (p=0.001), otic system (p=0.025), olfactory system (p=0.013), and limb buds (p=0.026) were significantly delayed in pregnant rats given 1000 mg/kg of extract. Oral administration of 500 mg/kg of U. simensis leaf extract also caused significant developmental delays in the CNT (p=0.021) and olfactory system (p=0.032). In the fetal experiment, fetal resorption (p=0.015) was significantly increased whereas crown rump length (p=0.012) and fetal weight (p=0.019) were significantly decreased in pregnant rats given 1000 mg/kg of U. simensis leaf extract. Conclusions: The embryotoxic effects of U. simensis leaf extract were evidenced by significant developmental delays. The fetal toxic effects of U. simensis leaf extract were also shown by significant decreases in fetal growth indices. Therefore, pregnant women should be well informed of the possible toxic effects of consuming U. simensis leaf during pregnancy.

A Systematic Review of Ethnobotanical, Phytochemical, and Ethnopharmacological Studies of Urtica simensis (Stinging Nettle)

The Urticaceae family contains 54 genera and more than 2000 species that can be found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates all over the world. This family includes the largest genus in the world, Urtica, which is also known as stinging nettle. Stinging hairs are present on the lower surface of the leaves and beneath the stems of Urtica simensis, also known as the stinging nettle, herbal nettle that is dioecious, upright, and unbranched. For the treatment of conditions like gastritis, heart disease, diabetes, gonorrhea, and malaria, people employ various portions of Urtica simensis in a variety of ways in traditional medicine. The Urtica simensis leaves are rich in variety of active secondary phytochemical constituents including terpenoids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, alkaloids, polyphenols, sterols, oxalate, and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). According to different reports, it possesses a variety of pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, antiproliferative, antidiabetic, cardioprotective, antiulcer, antibacterial, and antifungal actions. The current review summarizes published and unpublished information about the ethnobotanical, phytochemical, ethnopharmacological, and toxicological reports of Urtica simensis and summarizes all the research work carried out on this plant to provide updated information for future work.

Validation of Antidiabetic and Antihyperlipidemic Effects of 80% Methanolic Extract of the Lonchocarpus laxiflorus Leaves in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Swiss Albino Mice

Introduction

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic endocrine disorder that requires long-term treatment. In Ethiopian traditional medicine practice, plants have been provided with a vital role in fighting human and animal diseases since ancient times. The aqueous extract of Lonchocarpus laxiflorus (L. laxiflorus) leaves has been consumed for treating diabetes mellitus without confirming its safety and efficacy scientifically. This experiment aimed to evaluate the safety and antidiabetic efficacy of the leaf extract of L. laxiflorus in mice models.

Methods

The crude extraction was conducted using a cold maceration technique and 80% methanol solvent. Normoglycemic, oral glucose-loaded, and streptozotocin-induced (STZ) diabetic models were employed. Male Swiss albino mice were randomly grouped into five categories( with six mice per group during normoglycemic, oral glucose-loadingtest as a negative control, positive control, and three treatment groups. In STZ-induced diabetic models, the groups include normal and diabetic negative control, diabetic positive control, and three diabetic treatment groups. The negative control groups received vehicles, the positive control received 5 mg/kg glibenclamide, and the treatment groups received the crude extract at 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg doses, respectively.

Results

Up to 2000 mg/kg crude extract, neither signs of toxicity nor death were observed. In normoglycemic mice, there was a significant blood glucose reduction at 200 and 400 mg/kg doses starting from the 2^nd h post-administration. The oral glucose load showed a significant antihyperglycemic effect at 200 and 400 mg/kg of the crude extract and glibenclamide. In STZ-induced diabetic models, the 200, 400 mg/kg crude extract, and glibenclamide showed a significant antidiabetic activity and enhancement of a good serum lipid profile.

Conclusion

This study confirmed that the leaf of L. laxiflorus was safe and possesses antidiabetic and antidyslipidemic activities.

Gastroprotective effects of Caragana ambigua stocks on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats supported by LC-MS/MS characterization of formononetin and biochanin A

BACKGROUND

Caragana ambigua has been the part of the dietary routines of the regional people in south-west Pakistan and has traditionally been used for the treatment of diabetes there. There is an increased production of reactive oxygen species in diabetics, leading to gastrointestinal disorders. Natural antioxidants exhibit gastroprotective effects owing to their free-radical scavenging action. C. ambigua possesses appreciable phenolic and flavonoid content; thus, it has the potential to protect against gastrointestinal disorders (e.g. gastric ulcer).

RESULTS

This study reports the anti-ulcer potential of C. ambigua. Four different fractions (chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and aqueous) of plant were compared against omeprazole. Ulcer index, ulcer inhibition percentage, gastric pH and volume, total acidity, gastric protein, gastric wall mucus, and histopathology of gastric walls of rats were assessed. All fractions exhibited a reduction in ulcer index and promotion of percentage of ulcer inhibition compared with the ulcer control group. Furthermore, the fractions revealed a significant (P < 0.001) diminution in gastric volume and total acidity with an increase in pH. Among the fractions investigated, the chloroform fraction unveiled the most promising anti-ulcer activity, which is comparable to omeprazole. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry screening of fractions revealed the presence of formononetin and biochanin A (isoflavones reported to have anti-ulcer properties) in the chloroform fraction.

CONCLUSION

This study establishes that C. ambigua possesses significant potential in reducing gastric ulcer progression. Formononetin and biochanin A are chiefly responsible for the stated bioactivity due to the fact that these compounds were solely present in the chloroform fraction. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Review of Ethnobotanical and Ethnopharmacological Evidence of Some Ethiopian Medicinal Plants Traditionally Used for Peptic Ulcer Disease Treatment

A peptic ulcer is described as the rupture of the mucosal integrity of the stomach, the duodenum, and, in certain cases, the lower esophagus as a result of contact with chloridopeptic secretions. The two most common kinds of peptic ulcer disorders are referred to as “gastric ulcer” and “duodenal ulcer.” The name is derived from the location of the ulceration. Despite the promise of a wide range of antiulcer treatments, these therapies are associated with several adverse reactions, including hypersensitivity, arrhythmia, impotence, gynecomastia, galactorrhea, hematological abnormalities, and kidney disease, which are intolerable for many patients. Nowadays, there is a lot of emphasis on finding new and innovative agents. As a result, herbal medicines are commonly utilized in circumstances when drugs are used for long periods and are also cost-efficient, effective, and readily available. In this review paper, a total of 82 medicinal plants have been identified and reported for their use in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. The majority of these medicinal plants are widely used throughout Ethiopia. However, only the safety and efficacy of Plantago lanceolata, Osyris quadripartita, Rumex nepalensis, Cordia africana, Croton macrostachyus, and Urtica simensis have been scientifically studied in animal models. Despite this, many medicinal plants’ pharmacological effects and chemistry have not been well studied scientifically. As a result, further bioactive compound characterization, efficacy, mechanism of action evaluation, and toxicity evaluation of medicinal plants should be carried out. A study that can improve the documentation of indigenous knowledge and contribute to drug development and future self-reliance is also recommended.

Endemic medicinal plants of Ethiopia: Ethnomedicinal uses, biological activities and chemical constituents

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Around 80% of Ethiopians rely on traditional medicinal plants to treat a variety of ailments, and the country is home to a number of endemic plants, making it part of East Africa's hotspot of biodiversity. Despite widespread acceptance of endemic medicinal plants among the local community, comprehensive documentation of their therapeutic uses and phytochemistry is lacking. This review thus provides the first comprehensive appraisal of traditional use, pharmacological properties and phytochemistry of Ethiopian endemic medicinal plants. By storing and preserving indigenous and scientific knowledge about the medicinal benefits of the plants, such documentation generates information database for the future. It also aids the conservation of key medicinal plants along with translational research to accelerate the development of pharmaceuticals.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

The aims of this review are to collect and document current information on the ethnopharmacological uses, phytochemistry, and biological activities of Ethiopian endemic medicinal plants, identify research gaps, and provide perspectives and suggestions for future research on the plants as potential sources of pharmaceuticals.

MATERIALS & METHODS

A comprehensive literature review using electronic databases such as Medline, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Wiley Online Library was conducted for collecting relevant information. The World Flora Online (WFO) database and the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) were utilized to authenticate the taxonomic information of the plants. Chemical structures were drawn using ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.1 and verified via PubChem.

RESULTS

The present review has identified 412 Ethiopian endemic plants. Out of the 412 endemic plants species recorded for Ethiopia 44 are medicinally valuable to mitigate a myriad of diseases, and nine (27.3%) of them are endangered. Our literature survey also found out that a total of 74 compounds were isolated and characterized from the endemic plants, with phenolics accounting for the majority of them (66.2%). The plants exhibited antimalarial, antimicrobial, anticancer, anthelmintic, mosquitocidal, antidiabetic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties.

CONCLUSION

The work has resulted in an up-to-date inventory of Ethiopia's endemic flora, as well as the identification of species with traditional medicinal uses. The pharmacological activity and phytochemistry of numerous endemic plants with various traditional therapeutic claims are yet to be researched scientifically. Scientific validation of the herbal remedies, including evidence-based safety and efficacy studies are, therefore, crucial. The endangered medicinal plants must be conserved in order for local communities to have access to them in the future.

Antimalarial Efficacy of Hydromethanolic Root Extract and Solvent Fractions of Urtica simensis Hochst. ex. A. Rich. (Urticaceae): An Experimental Study on Plasmodium berghei-Infected Mice

Background

Despite modern therapeutic armamentariums, malaria remains a 21st century public health menace. The issue of combating malaria is the ever-growing resistance to high-tech medications in which novel phytomedicines are highly demanding, a rapidly expanding research avenue. In Ethiopian folklore medicine, Urtica simensis has been used to treat malaria by drinking its juice after the dry roots have been mashed and combined with water. Hitherto, no in vivo study has been reported in the literature so far. To substantiate this folkloric claim, the present work herein was done.

Methods

An acute oral toxicity study was conducted as per the standard protocol. To rule out, the extract's inherent potential effects on bodyweight, basal body To, and PCV changes were tracked for two weeks. A four-day suppressive model and a curative assay model were utilized to investigate the antimalarial activity of the plant. Percent parasitemia suppression, packed cell volume, mean survival date, bodyweight, and rectal body temperature were used to determine antimalarial activity.

Result

An acute toxicity study reveals that Urtica simensis was atoxic at a dose of 2000 mg/kg. It also affirms that U. simensis is free from intrinsic potential effects of interfering with bodyweight, temperature, and packed cell volume evolution. Both crude extract and its solvent fractions at all test doses exerted significant (P < 0.001) inhibition of parasitemia as compared to the control group. CF400 mg/kg provided the greatest chemosuppressive effect (79.24%). In a curative experiment, crude extract and CF were able to prevent the cardinal indications of P. berghei-induced malaria, such as weight loss, hypothermia, parasitemia, and anemia. Both crude extracts and their solvent fractions prolong survival dates.

Conclusion

The antimalarial activity of the crude extract and its solvent fractions was promising, confirming previous assertions. As a result, more research studies into chemical entities may be required.