Evaluation of Analgesic and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Methanolic Leaf and Root Extracts of Gomphocarpus purpurascens A. Rich (Asclepiadaceae) in Mice

Phytochemistry of Medicinal Herbs Belongs to Asclepiadaceae Family for Therapeutic Applications: A Critical Review

The world of pharmaceutical research has been increasingly turning its gaze toward the treasure trove of natural products in search of novel drugs and therapeutic agents. Amidst the vast array of medicinal plants that dot our planet, the Asclepiadaceae family unexplored species have piqued the interest of researchers. Both medicinal plants are indigenous to specific regions and have been integral to traditional medicine systems for centuries. This systematic review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the current knowledge regarding the phytochemical profile of these plants and their potential implications in the pharmaceutical industry. These plants are rich in phytochemical constituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, glycosides, and saponins. These constituents have been found to exhibit a range of pharmacological activities. They have antimicrobial properties, providing a defense against various microorganisms. They also show anti-inflammatory properties, helping to reduce inflammation in the body. In addition, these plants have antioxidant properties, which help protect cells from damage by harmful free radicals. They have shown anticancer activity, offering potential for cancer treatment. Their neuroprotective properties could be beneficial in treating neurological disorders. The analgesic properties of these plants could be harnessed for pain relief. Furthermore, they have antidiabetic properties, offering potential for diabetes management. The hope is that this review will stimulate further research into these fascinating plants and contribute to discovering new drugs from natural herbs.

Analgesic activity of aqueous and methanol fruit pulp extracts of Hyphaene thebaica (Arecaceae) (Linn) mart in mice

OBJECTIVES

Pain affects about one in every five persons and is considered a major global health burden. Hyphaene thebaica (Arecaceae), is a medicinal plant used in Cameroon, fruit pulp are macerated and orally administered in traditional medicine to treat various ailments, including hypertension, pain, and inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate the pain-killing effect of fruit pulp extracts of H. thebaica in mice.

METHODS

Aqueous (AEHT) and methanol (MEHT) extracts were prepared from fruit pulp of H. thebaica, followed by a qualitative phytochemical analysis. The extracts were given orally at doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg in acute pain models such as acetic acid, formalin, hotplate, and capsaicin. Control groups included distilled water (negative), and diclofenac, morphine, ruthenium red, diazepam (positive). Naloxone pretreatment was used to assess opioid pathway involvement. Locomotor and sedative effects were evaluated using rota-rod and open-field tests. Acute toxicity was assessed at 2,000 mg/kg.

RESULTS

Phytochemical tests revealed saponins, flavonoids, tannins, and phenols. Both extracts greatly decreased the writhing induced by acetic acid. MEHT inhibited both phases of formalin-induced pain (p<0.01). Both extracts significantly inhibited hotplate-induced nociception (p<0.001), partially reversed by naloxone, except for MEHT. In the capsaicin test, extracts produced a remarkable reduction of paw licking time (p<0.01). No motor coordination alteration or acute toxicity effects were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings demonstrated the analgesic activity of AEHT and MEHT, mediated by the stimulation of opioids and blockage of vanilloid receptors pathways.

Estimation of Secondary Metabolites, Nutrients, Minerals, and Anti-Inflammatory and Antidiarrheal Agents in Heliotropium rariflorum Stocks at Two Phenological Stages

The medicinal value of plants depends on minerals and nutrients and their complexation with chemotherapeutic compounds. The present study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical composition with anti-inflammatory and antidiarrheal potential of Heliotropium rariflorum. Among nutrients, fibers were maximum (25.3% in leaves, 53.05% in stem, 57.01% in roots) during flowering period. Leaves were rich in ash contents. Fat contents were minimum (0.94%-7.22%) in plant parts during both periods. The highest gross energy was calculated for leaves during vegetative period (210.136 kcal/100 g). Similarly, macro-minerals (Ca & K contents) were highest at both stages, whereas micro-minerals (Cu contents) were at flowering stage as compared to the rest of the elements. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) revealed that the leaves methanolic extract was rich in 16,28-secosolanidan-3-ol and tetrahydro-solasodine (1.40%), stem in 6-octadecenoic acid (29.24%) (9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z) and cis-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate; 14.30%), and roots in 4-(1-methyle 2-cyclohexen)-1-one, 3,5-dimethylpyrazole, and 2,4-dimethylfuran (0.83%). The plant exhibited statistically significant (p < 0.01) anti-inflammatory while mild antidiarrheal properties (p > 0.01). It is recommended that H. rariflorum is a good source of nutrients, minerals, and secondary metabolites and can be used in food and pharmaceutical industries, especially as an anti-inflammatory and antidiarrheal agent.

O-Acetyl Bakuchiol Exhibits Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Arthritic Effects: A Combined In Silico and In Vivo Experimental Study

In the present manuscript, we evaluated the analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effects of bakuchiol derivative, O-acetyl bakuchiol (BAc), at 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg p.o. doses in adult Sprague-Dawley rats. BAc at 20 mg/kg p.o. exhibited maximum analgesic (47.4%), anti-inflammatory (66.50%) and anti-arthritic effects. Among the different parameters studied for anti-arthritic effects, BAc at 20 mg/kg increased the body weight (2.89%), decreased the paw thickness (72.46%) and decreased the paw inflammation (48.59%) in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA)-induced arthritic rats. In haematological/serum and biochemical parameters, BAc at 20 mg/kg brought the altered levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Hb, HCT, RBC, TLC and platelet count, HDL, cholesterol, triglycerides, C-reactive protein (CRP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) factor near to the normal. Moreover, the spleen weight was also reduced in BAc-treated rats at 20 mg/kg. Histopathological analysis further revealed that a reduction in paw inflammation was observed in paw ankle joints, and no inflammation was observed in brain, liver, lungs and kidney in BAc-treated rats at 20 mg/kg p.o. Molecular docking studies further revealed that BAc has better binding affinity for tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) (Protein Data Bank [PDB] ID: 7JRA) -7.19 kcal/mol comparable to standard methotrexate with binding affinity -9.56 kcal/mol. Therefore, the present investigation provided the basis for the development of BAc as a potential candidate for the treatment of arthritis.

Deciphering In Vitro and In Vivo Pharmacological Properties of Seed and Fruit Extracts of Flacourtia jangomas (Lour.) Raeusch

The objective of the study was to evaluate the pharmacological properties of the methanolic extract of Flacourtia jangomas (Lour.) Raeusch fruits (PFJM) and seeds (SFJM), along with their soluble fractions in ethyl acetate (fruit: PFJE; seed: SFJE) and chloroform (fruit: PFJC; seed: SFJC). Our phytochemical analysis of the examined extracts confirmed the presence of various therapeutically active phytoconstituents, including flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, and alkaloids. Employing the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical quenching method, SFJC exhibited the highest antioxidative potential, with an IC50 of 48.84, compared to ascorbic acid (IC50 21.77). The thrombolytic activity was assessed through rapid clot analysis of human blood samples, revealing that SFJC demonstrated the highest thrombolytic activity (60.99 ± 2.28%) compared to streptokinase (72.89 ± 2.19%). In the protein denaturation antiarthritic test, the PFJE and SFJC extracts exhibited significant potency, achieving results of 74.28 ± 1.16% and 79.25 ± 0.83%, respectively, at a dose of 500 μg/mL. All samples displayed notable anthelmintic activity by reducing Pheretima posthuma paralysis and death time in a dose-dependent manner compared to albendazole. In both in vivo analgesic tests, SFJC demonstrated substantial (p < 0.01) pain inhibition percentages (tail immersion: 49.46%; acetic acid writhing: 66.43%) at a dose of 600 mg/kg. During neuropharmacological screening, all extracts significantly (p < 0.01;  p < 0.05) and dose-dependently decreased the mice's locomotion activity and motor balance. In the thiopental-induced sedation assay, SFJC significantly decreased the sleep latency time (4.18 ± 0.24 min) and increased the duration of sleep time (85.20 ± 2.39 min) at a higher dose. All samples notably reduced blood glucose levels in the oral glucose tolerance test in a dose-responsive manner, and SFJC exhibited a considerable hypoglycemic impact (7.38 ± 0.44 mmoles/L at 600 mg/kg). The frequency of diarrheal episodes in mice during the antidiarrhea assessment was significantly decreased by the tested plant samples. These findings can serve as a reference for future endeavors to isolate pure bioactive compounds from this plant for the development of novel phytomedicines.

Evaluation of anti-inflammatory potential and GC-MS profiling of leaf extracts from Clerodendrum infortunatum L

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Clerodendrum infortunatum L. is commonly distributed in tropical and subtropical countries and is widely used in the indigenous systems of medicine including Ayurveda, Unani, and Homeopathy. The plant has important uses in the treatment of various inflammatory disorders which includes asthma, cough, chest complaints, pain, rheumatism, osteoarthritis, gastric ulcer, cancer, diabetes, skin diseases etc. AIM OF THE STUDY: Regarding the extensive healing properties of C. infortunatum in folk medicine, we aimed to explore the anti-inflammatory activity of the plant and analyze its bioactive components.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sequential extracts were prepared from C. infortunatum leaves using n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol, ethanol and water. In vitro anti-inflammatory activity of these extracts were evaluated using membrane stabilization and protein anti-denaturation assays. Toxicity of the extracts was tested using brine shrimp lethality assay. GC-MS analysis has been carried out to analyze and characterize various bioactive constituents present in the plant.

RESULTS

Each of the tested extracts showed significant (p < 0.05) in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. Sequential ethyl acetate extract demonstrated the strongest membrane stabilization and protein anti-denaturation activities with IC50 values of 331.3, 308.3 and 279.2 μg/mL for heat and hypotonicity induced membrane stabilization and protein anti-denaturation assays, respectively. Sequential methanol extract also exhibited strong activity in heat and hypotonicity induced membrane stabilization and protein anti-denaturation assays with IC50 values of 371.5, 331.6 and 284.6 μg/mL, respectively. The extracts demonstrated a range of toxicity in the brine shrimp lethality assay with LC50 values of 51.4, 59.7, 47.3, 37.1, 68.1 and 77.3 μg/mL for n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol, ethanol and water extracts respectively. The GC-MS analysis of direct n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts detected 32 different compounds. The major compounds (> 5%) were phenol, 3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-, hexadecanoic acid methyl ester, estragole, methyl stearate, lanosterol, 9-methoxybicyclo[6.1.0]nona-2,4,6-triene, benzenepropanoic acid, 3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl) 4 hydroxy methyl ester, 22,23-dibromostigmasterol acetate, 3-methyl-4-(phenylthio)-2-prop-2-enyl-2,5-dihydrothiophene 1,1-dioxide, benzenemethanol, α-methyl-α-propyl- and 9-octadecenoic acid (Z)- methyl ester.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of our study revealed that C. infortunatum is rich with diverse bioactive phytoconstituents and the scientific evidences support the anti-inflammatory potential of the plant.