Human kidney proximal tubule cells are vulnerable to the effects of Rauwolfia serpentina

Rauwolfia serpentina (or Snake root plant) is a botanical dietary supplement marketed in the USA for maintaining blood pressure. Very few studies have addressed the safety of this herb, despite its wide availability to consumers. Its reported pleiotropic effects underscore the necessity for evaluating its safety. We used a human kidney cell line to investigate the possible negative effects of R. serpentina on the renal system in vitro, with a specific focus on the renal proximal tubules. We evaluated cellular and mitochondrial toxicity, along with a variety of other kidney-specific toxicology biomarkers. We found that R. serpentina was capable of producing highly detrimental effects in our in vitro renal cell system. These results suggest more studies are needed to investigate the safety of this dietary supplement in both kidney and other target organ systems.

Microwave-Assisted Extraction Studies of Target Analyte Artemisinin from Dried Leaves of Artemisia annua L

Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae) is an annual herb native of Asia. This plant has been used for many centuries in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of fever and malaria. Conventional methods for the extraction of artemisinin from A. annua including solvent extraction, Soxhlet extraction, and heat reflux extraction are characterized by long extraction times and the consumption of large volume of solvents. A simple, rapid, and precise microwave-assisted extraction process was optimized for fast sample preparation for the faster quantitative determination of artemisinin, potential new generation antimalarial drug, from dried leaves of Artemisia annua L. A simple experiment was designed for the optimization of the appropriate solvent under same extraction conditions. The selected appropriate solvent was then standardized for various different extraction variables. The major parameters studied showed effects on extraction efficiency including processing time, strength of microwave, moisture content, volume and nature of the solvent. The most favorable conditions were obtained by using plant material of 25 mesh (particle size) extracted with acetone for 120 seconds at 160 W (i.e., 20% of total power). Quantitative analysis was performed using thin-layer chromatography coupled with a densitometer (TLC densitometry). The results showed that MAE can be used as an efficient and rapid method for the extraction of the active components from plants.