Anti-hyperbilirubinemic and wound healing activity of aqueous extract of Calotropis procera leaves in Wistar rats

Calotropis procera and the Pharmacological Properties of Its Aqueous Leaf Extract: A Review

Calotropis procera (C. procera) is a versatile plant often used for fuel, fodder, wood, fiber, phytoremediation, medicine, and synthesis of nanoparticles. Its ability to tolerate abiotic stresses and its morphophysiological adaptation have made it popular worldwide. Currently, it is identified as an environmental weed across the world. C. procera owes its therapeutic qualities to the secondary metabolites like tannins, alkaloids, and phenols present in it. New synthetic drugs are being formulated by using these secondary metabolites as a prototype. This review aimed to provide a summary of the chemometric profile, toxicity, and pharmacological activities of the aqueous leaf extract of C. procera based on the current literature.

Secondary metabolite contents and safety assessment study of the aqueous extract from the Algerian Echium trygorrhizum Pomel roots

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Species of Echium trygorrhizum Pomel, belonging to the Boraginaceae family, grow wild in North Africa. This plant is used in traditional Algerian medicine for the treatment of Diabetes, Jaundice and Tonsillitis.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To our knowledge, no work has been done on the phytochemistry and biological activities of this plant. Moreover, no study has yet corroborated that the use of this plant is safe. Therefore, the present study was carried out to gather information on the various medicinal uses of this plant and to evaluate the total phenolic content and assess its safety after acute and sub-acute toxicity tests with rodents (mice and rats).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

An ethnopharmacological survey was carried out using a direct questionnaire. It included some questions relating to the plant. The content of polyphénols, flavonoids and tannins present in the aqueous extract was determined by colorimetric methods. In the acute toxicity tests, three groups each containing five males and five females Albino mice were formed. The control group received water, while the test groups received different doses of aqueous extract (2000 and 5000) mg/kg body weight. In the subacute toxicity study, different doses (250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg) of the aqueous extract were administered to male and female rats for 28 consecutive days. Hematological analysis, biochemical parameters estimation and histopathological examination have been determined at the end of the treatment.

RESULTS

Data from the ethnopharmacological survey showed that 25, 31% of people used this plant in Algeria as a traditional medicine for the treatment of Jaundice (100%), Diabetes (28, 33%) and Tonsillitis (10%). Results also revealed that aqueous extract contains high amounts of polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins. The extract did not cause any toxicity during the 14-days observation period after a single dose of 5000 mg/kg was administered to mice, with LD50 values greater than 5000 mg/kg. In a further step, the administration of the aqueous extract at all dose levels (250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg) to male and female rats during the 28-days study did not result in any deaths or behavioral changes, and there were no changes in body weight, relative organ weights, or food consumption as a result of this experiment. However, male rats showed a significant difference in relative liver weight in the high dose group (1000 mg/kg) (p < 0.05) and the satellite group (p < 0.01). In female rats, liver weight significantly increased only in the satellite group compared with the control group (p < 0.01). The results showed an increase in red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and hematocrit (Hct) in the female groups. However, a clear decrease was observed in plasma ALP enzyme activities in females treated with the doses of 250 and 1000 mg/kg (p < 0.05) after the treatment periods.

CONCLUSION

The study indicated that the single dose of 5 g/kg AQE can be considered relatively safe as it did not cause death or any signs of toxicity in mice. Repeated oral administration of AQE at doses below 250 g/kg/day for 28 consecutive days can be considered relatively safe.

A review on phytochemical constituents and pharmacological potential of Calotropis procera

Calotropis procera is locally known as Aak or Madar in Hindi, milk weed in English and belongs to the family Apocynaceae and subfamily Asclepiadoideae. Although a wasteland plant, it is of sacred use as its flowers are offered for worshipping Lord Shiva, a Hindu God. Tribes all over the world use the plant in treatment of various diseases like snake bite, body pain, asthma, epilepsy, cancer, sexual disorders, skin diseases and many more. This plant contains various phytoconstituents such as flavonoids, terpenoids, cardenolides, steroids oxypregnanes etc. Though literature searches reveal many reviews about ethnomedicinal uses, chemical composition and pharmacological activities, no recent papers are available that provide an overview of the therapeutic potential and toxicity of Calotropis procera. Hence, the insight of this review is to provide a systemic summary of phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and therapeutic potential of Calotropis procera and to highlight the gaps in the knowledge so as to offer inspiration for future research.

Calotropis procera is also known as Aak or Madar. The present review provides a systematic outline of phytochemistry, toxicology, pharmacology and therapeutic potential of Calotropis procera.

Calotropis procera (Aiton) Dryand (Apocynaceae) as an anti-cancer agent against canine mammary tumor and osteosarcoma cells

Our goal was to evaluate phytochemical characterization and the antitumor potential of Calotropis procera. The phytochemical constitution of the crude extract (CE) revealed the presence of flavonoids, glycosides and cardenolide. The MTT assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of CE, methanolic (MF) and ethyl acetate fractions (EAF) of C. procera in canine osteosarcoma cells (OST), canine mammary tumor (CMT), and canine skin fibroblasts (non-tumor cell). Doxorubicin was also used as a positive control. Results showed that CE, MF and EAF promoted a decrease in the viability of OST and CMT cells and did not alter the fibroblasts viability. C. procera also decreased the number of cells, corroborating to the decrease in proliferation and the cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. It was also evaluated the cell morphology by light and fluorescence microscopy, being demonstrated a reduction in cytoplasmic and cell rounding characteristic of programmed cell death. Moreover, flow cytometry data demonstrated that CE treatment promoted increase of caspase-3 and p53, showing that the cell death was activated in OST cells. In addition, there was a decrease in CD31, VEGF, osteopontin and TGF-β after CE treatment, suggesting that CE exerts its antitumor effect by reducing angiogenesis and tumor progression in OST cells. Moreover, CMT cells showed a reduction in PCNA after treatment with MF and CE. Analyzing the data together, C. procera, especially CE, showed an antitumor potential in both OST and CMT cells, encouraging us to continue investigating its use in cancer therapy.

Pharmacodynamic appraisal of wound-healing herbs of Sushruta Samhita

Background

In Sushruta Samhita, various medicinal plants as single and compound formulations having Vrana-Shodhana (wound cleansing) and Vrana-Ropana (wound healing) potential are enumerated. There are no published data available on these wound-healing medicinal plants of Sushruta Samhita. The effectivee management of wound is necessary in the immunocompromised and chronic wounds patients as they take more time to heal.

Aim

To review and systematically analyze wound-healing medicinal plants and their modus-operandi on the basis of pharmacodynamics attributes, i.e., Rasa (taste), Veerya (potency), and Vipaka (biotransformation) in the various stages of healing.

Materials and methods

Review of Sushruta Samhita was done to gather wound-healing medicinal plants; pharmacodynamics attributes were gatherd from various Nighantus to understand their role in wound healing. The contemporary information about wound-healing mechanism was gathered from PubMed to interpitate the rational use of plants in the various stages of wound healing.

Results

The study suggests that 43 medicinal plants have Vrana-Shodhana activity, 48 have Vrana-Ropana and 62 have both Vrana-Shodhana and Vrana-Ropana potential. Medicinal plants with Vrana-Shodhana category are having predominance of Katu (pungent), Tikta (bitter) and Kashaya (astriengent) Rasa. Plants under Vrana-Ropana are having Madhura, Kashaya Rasa (sweet taste), Madhura Vipaka (sweet biotransform) and Sheeta Veerya (cold potency).

Conclusion

Plants having Tikta, Kashaya Rasa, Katu Vipaka, and Sheeta Veerya may be useful in the inflammatory stage, plants having Madhura, Kashaya Rasa and Sheeta Veerya may be useful in the prolifiratory stage and plants having Madhura Rasa, Sheeta Veerya, and Madhura Vipaka may be useful in the remodeling stage. The present review will help to give the directions to the researchers for the development of effective wound-healing medicines for wounds.

Anti-inflammatory, analgesic activity, and toxicity of Pituranthos scoparius stem extract: An ethnopharmacological study in rat and mouse models

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Pituranthos scoparius is a medicinal plant that is used in traditional medicine in Algeria and other North African nations to treat several diseases such as asthma, rheumatism, measles, dermatoses, jaundice, and digestive disorders.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The present investigation was designed to investigate an ethnobotanical survey about Pituranthos scoparius in Setif region, Algeria, and assess the acute toxicity, in vivo anti-inflammatory potential and analgesic effect of Pituranthos scoparius hydromethanolic stem extract (PSSE) in rats and mice models.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Acute toxicity of PSSE was carried out based on OECD guidelines 425. Both possible death and signs accompanying toxicity of animals were monitored for 14 days to establish the median lethal dose (LD₅₀) of PSSE. Anti-inflammatory effect of the extract was evaluated using the xylene, croton oil-induced ear edema, and carrageenan-induced paw edema, whereas the analgesic activity was evaluated using acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction in mice model.

RESULTS

Data from the ethnopharmacological survey showed that 24.47% of people used this plant in traditional (folk) medicine. Results also revealed that PSSE contains high amounts of polyphenols, flavonoids, and tannins, and that the extract did not cause any deaths or changes in the behavior of treated animals; LD₅₀ values were found to be higher than 5 g/kg BW. Additionally, no significant variations were observed in the alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) enzymes, or in the levels of urea and creatinine. Oral administration of PSSE at the doses of 100, 300, and 600 mg/kg produced a significant dose-dependent inhibition effect in both xylene and croton oil-induced ear edema in mice. Administration of PSSE at a dose of 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg significantly (P < 0.05) exhibited anti-edematogenic effect in the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema after 3 h. In acetic acid-induced writhing model, PSSE significantly (P < 0.05) reduced writhing at a dose of 500 mg/kg with 69.92% of inhibition.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken all together, PSSE is non-toxic, and exhibits potent anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities. Through the ethnomedicinal study, our findings highlight the medicinal use of PSSE in traditional medicine and as an additional source of natural and safe anti-inflammatory agents.

Indigenous medicinal plants of Pakistan used to treat skin diseases: a review

Ethno-pharmacological relevance

Plants are providing reliable therapy since time immemorial. Pakistan has a great diversity in medicinal flora and people use these ethno-medicines to deal with many skin problems. This review explores the fundamental knowledge on various dermatological properties of medicinal plants of Pakistan and is aimed to provide a baseline for the discovery of new plants having activities against skin issues.

Material and method

A total of 244 published articles were studied using different research engines like PubMed, Google, Google-scholar and science direct.

Results

Review of literature revealed ethno-pharmacological use of 545 plant species, belonging to 118 families and 355 genera, to combat various skin ailments. Out of these, ten most commonly used plant species belonging to ten different families are documented in this review. It was also found out that ehno-medicines are prepared using various parts of the plants including leaves (28.32%), whole plant and roots 13.17% and 10.97% respectively, in the form of powder (23.5%) and paste (22.75%). A total of 13 endangered plant species and ten commercially important plants were recorded.

Conclusion

Medicinal plants of Pakistan have therapeutic effects against several skin problems; however most of medicinal plants are still not evaluated scientifically to support their ethno-pharmacological claim on skin. Dermatological pathogens are recommended to study. Further, the conservational programs should be established for endangered species.