Antinociceptive and Antioxidant Activities of the Methanolic Extract of Telfairia occidentalis Seeds

In vivo and in silico elucidation of possible potential and mechanisms involved in the analgesic action of ethanolic extract of Lavandula Stoechas

OBJECTIVES

Our research focused on plant's ethanolic extract Lavandula stoechas flower part to investigate the potential analgesic effects and possible pathways involvements.

METHODS

Four experimental tests were performed on Swiss albino mice with five animals in each group at different doses (50, 100, and 200mg/kg); formalin test, tail-flick test, acetic acid-induced writhing, and hot-plate test. The opioidergic, noradrenergic, cholinergic, and K channel blockers in the analgesic actions were also carried out for the potential route involvement.

KEY FINDING

The percentage inhibition for abdominal writhing's and formalin activity showed a dose-dependent manner for early and late phases reducing abdominal writhing's and time period of licking, respectively. Tail immersion and hot-plate test demonstrated a substantial and dose-dependent increase in the latency time and time period of paw liking and jumping response respectively. GC-MS showed the abundantly present compounds were octadecatrienoic acid (34.35%), n-hexadecanoic acid (12.98%). In silico analyses have revealed three compounds that had good interactions with 6y3c receptor proteins, demonstrating strong binding affinities and satisfying docking parameters.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, these studies showed that ethanolic extract of L. stoechas is an important medicinal plant, with both central and peripheral antinociceptive and analgesic activities supporting its traditional use for therapeutic purposes.

Atrazine Toxicity: The Possible Role of Natural Products for Effective Treatment

There are various herbicides which were used in the agriculture industry. Atrazine (ATZ) is a chlorinated triazine herbicide that consists of a ring structure, known as the triazine ring, along with a chlorine atom and five nitrogen atoms. ATZ is a water-soluble herbicide, which makes it capable of easily infiltrating into majority of the aquatic ecosystems. There are reports of toxic effects of ATZ on different systems of the body but, unfortunately, majority of these scientific reports were documented in animals. The herbicide was reported to enter the body through various routes. The toxicity of the herbicide can cause deleterious effects on the respiratory, reproductive, endocrine, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, and urinary systems of the human body. Alarmingly, few studies in industrial workers showed ATZ exposure leading to cancer. We embarked on the present review to discuss the mechanism of action of ATZ toxicity for which there is no specific antidote or drug. Evidence-based published literature on the effective use of natural products such as lycopene, curcumin, Panax ginseng, Spirulina platensis, Fucoidans, vitamin C, soyabeans, quercetin, L-carnitine, Telfairia occidentalis, vitamin E, Garcinia kola, melatonin, selenium, Isatis indigotica, polyphenols, Acacia nilotica, and Zingiber officinale were discussed in detail. In the absence of any particular allopathic drug, the present review may open the doors for future drug design involving the natural products and their active compounds.

Intake of Fluted Pumpkin Seeds Rebalances Oxidative Stress Parameters in the Aged Rat’s Testes

The effect of fluted pumpkin seeds (FPS) consumption on the antioxidant status of the testes of aged Wistar rats was evaluated in this study. Sixty (50 aged, 6 months old, and 10 young, 2 months old) rats were divided into six groups of 10 per each group. Testosterone (15 mg kg-1 body weight, once weekly for 40 days) was injected intraperitoneally and used as positive control. FPS intake (50, 100, and 200 mg kg-1 body weight) or vehicle control (corn oil) were administered orally, twice weekly for 40 days and compared with the untreated aged and young control rats. Changes in antioxidant status in the testis of the aged rats was reflected as increased superoxide dismutase and catalase activities and glutathione and decreased lipid peroxidation levels which were attenuated more efficiently by the lowest dose FPS (50 mg kg-1 body weight). Additionally, nitrite concentration that was found to be diminished in the aged rats was raised to the young control values after intake of the FPS (50 mg kg-1 body weight). As expected, testosterone injection increased endogenous testosterone concentration and also remained higher in the untreated aged animals than in young control and treated aged rats. In conclusion, compromised antioxidant defense system of the testes that is associated with ageing could be reversed to the status of the young control by the intake of FPS.

Fluted pumpkin seeds protect the spermatogenesis score index and testicular histology of caffeine treated rats

The present study was designed to evaluate the protective effect of fluted pumpkin seeds (FPS) against caffeine (CAFF) induced testicular toxicity in rats. Thirty young healthy male Wistar rats (196 ± 12 g) were randomly organized into five sets of six animals per each group: control, caffeine (CAFF; 50 mg kg-1 bw) and FPS co-treatment groups (CAFF + 50 mg FPS, CAFF + 100 mg FPS and CAFF + 200 mg FPS kg-1  bw). CAFF and FPS were administered daily and twice per week respectively by oral gavage for 40 days. CAFF treatment decreased testicular lactate dehydrogenase enzyme activity level, which was attenuated on co-administration with FPS at 50 and 100 mg kg-1  bw. Furthermore, CAFF decreased seminiferous epithelia thickness and spermatogenesis score index and increased the number of tubules with abnormal histological features, which were attenuated on co-administration with FPS at 50 mg kg-1  bw much more than at the higher doses (p < 0.05). CAFF did not affect malondialdehyde and glutathione concentrations and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in the testes whereas FPS co-treatment at the higher doses elevated glutathione level and GSH-Px activity and did not affect spermatogenesis score index at the highest dose (200 mg kg-1  bw). Testicular malondialdehyde concentrations remained unaffected in all FPS co-treatment groups. Overall, FPS is able to minimize the CAFF-induced testicular injury at lower than at the higher tested doses.

Antioxidant and Anti-Anemic Effects of Ethanol Leaf Extracts of Mucuna poggei and Telfairia occidentalis in Phenyl-Hydrazine-Induced Anemia in Wistar Albino Rats

Introduction With the use of recent therapeutic data, several methods for finding medications from untapped natural materials continue to advance research and development. The antioxidant and antianemic effects of ethanol leaf extracts of Telfairia occidentalis and Mucuna poggei in phenylhydrazine-induced anemia in Wister albino rats were investigated.

Method A total of 54 male albino rats were randomly assigned to nine experimental groups (n = 6). Anemia was induced in groups 2 to 9 with 10 mg/kg body weight of phenylhydrazine. Group 1 (normal control) rats were administered normal saline only. Group 2 (anemic control) rats were untreated. Group 3 (standard controls) rats were treated with a standard multivitamin, groups 4, 5, and 6 rats were treated with varying doses of M. poggei leaf extract respectively, while groups 7, 8, and 9 rats were treated with similar doses of T. occidentalis leaf extract by oral intubation for 21 days.

Results Earlier, the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis indicated eighteen (18) and twenty-nine (29) active compounds present in M. poggei and T. occidentalis, respectively. More so, T. occidentalis and M. poggei were studied for their inhibitory potentials against 2,2-diphenyl-1 picrylhydrazyl-free radicals, nitric oxide, phosphomolybdenum, and ferric-reducing antioxidant power. M. poggei and T. occidentalis also showed the following trend of minerals Mg > Ca > Fe > Na > Zn > Mn > K and Mg > Fe > Ca > Na > K > Mn > Zn, respectively. The results also showed that the packed cell volume, red blood cells, and hemoglobin significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in anemic control rats compared with normal controls and were significantly (p < 0.05) increased on treatment with the leaf extracts. Catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase activities, and glutathione levels significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in anemic control, compared with normal. However, these significantly (p < 0.05) increased on treatment with the leaf extracts in a dose-independent manner. Malondialdehyde levels took the reverse trend.

Conclusion This study indicated that leaf extracts of M. poggei and T. occidentalis can be used in the management of anemia and oxidative stress-related complications

Antinociceptive effect of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of Calotropis procera (Ait) R. Br. (Apocynaceae): Possible involvement of glutamatergic, cytokines, opioidergic and adenosinergic pathways

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Pain remains real and still a major problem in clinical medicine which requires new agents with improved efficacy for more therapeutic benefits. Plant sources can serve as a basis for the search for some novel drugs hence the analgesic effects of the hydroethanolic extract of Calotropis procera (CPE) which is widespread in Ghana and other tropical areas and used in folkloric medicine for painful and inflammatory conditions was evaluated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The analgesic properties of orally administered CPE at doses of 30, 100, and 300 mg/kg were evaluated in thermal (tail immersion), chemical (acetic acid-writhing, formalin-induced paw licking, glutamate-induced nociception) and mechanical (Randall-Selitto) tests for analgesia. The involvement of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL 1β), bradykinin, and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) on the analgesic effects of CPE were also evaluated in hypernociception assays measuring mechanical pain thresholds.

RESULTS

The latency of tail withdrawal in the tail immersion test was significantly increased (p = 0.0001) while writhing induced by acetic acid was significantly reduced (p < 0.0001) on treatment with CPE (30-300 mg/kg). The extract also significantly inhibited both phase 1 and phase 2 nociceptive states induced by formalin comparable to morphine (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, the extract significantly attenuated hyper-nociception induced by TNF-α (p < 0.0001), interleukin 1β (p = 0.0102), bradykinin (p < 0.0001), and prostaglandin E₂ (p < 0.0001). Additionally, glutamate-induced paw licking was reduced significantly (p < 0.05). The antinociceptive effects exhibited by CPE (100 mg/kg) in the formalin test was reversed by systemic administration of naloxone (2 mg/kg) and theophylline (5 mg/kg) but not glibenclamide (8 mg/kg), granisetron (2 mg/kg), atropine (3 mg/kg), yohimbine (3 mg/kg, p.o.) nor nifedipine (10 mg/kg).

CONCLUSION

Overall, the hydroethanolic leaf extract of Calotropis procera possesses analgesic properties that is mediated possibly through the glutaminergic, opioidergic, and adenosinergic pathways.

Antifertility and profertility effects of the leaves and seeds of fluted pumpkin: Sperm quality, hormonal effects and histomorphological changes in the testes of experimental animal models

Fluted pumpkin (FP; Telfairia occidentalis) is an edible vegetable, grown in West Africa, that is used in traditional medicine for its regulatory effects on the male gonads. Scientific articles concerning the effects of FP were identified by searching PubMed, PubChem, Scopus, Springer, ResearchGate, Google Scholar and Web of Science; this literature was to better understand the effects of FP seed (FPS) and leaf (FPL) extracts on the testes. Data showed that in experimental animals extracts of FPL and FPS at 1/100 of the lethal dose promoted testis regeneration and improved testosterone concentration and sperm quality, while at higher doses they had antifertility effects. Several extracts of FPS and FPL, including ethanol, aqueous, methanol and hydroethanolic, had protective effects on the testes of study animals at lower doses (≥ 50 mg/kg body weight), but at higher doses (≥ 200 mg/kg body weight) they inhibited hormone synthesis, sperm quality and histomorphological structure, under both normal and disease conditions. The posttreatment effects of FPS on the gonads were reversible in young mature rats and FPS had slight systemic toxic effects. Although, there are inconsistencies in some of the published results, the current evidence suggests that FPS and FPL have both profertility and reversible antifertility effects in experimental animals.