Inhibitory effect of two Indian medicinal plants on aldose reductase of rat lens in vitro

OBJECTIVE@#To assesse the inhibitory effect of alcoholic extract of two Indian medicinal plants namely Ceasalpinia digyna Rottler and, Alangium lamarckii Thwaits on aldose reductase (AR) of rat lens.@*METHODS@#Rats lens were enucleated through posterior approach and their homogenate was prepared and centrifuged to obtain a clear supernatant for the determination of AR activity and protein content.@*RESULTS@#The alcoholic extract of Ceasalpinia digyna and Alangium lamarckii had a potent inhibitory effect on the lens AR enzyme. The IC(50) values of alcoholic extract of the selected plants were calculated and were (46.29±11.17) and (106.00±5.11) μg/mL, respectively. Quercetin was used as a positive control and its IC(50) value was (2.95±1.53) μg/mL.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Thus, it is concluded that alcoholic extracts of the selected plant exhibit significant inhibitory effects on AR in the rat lens in vitro.

Pedalium murex Linn.: an overview of its phytopharmacological aspects

Pedalium murex Linn (family: Pedaliaceae) (P. murex) commonly known as Large Caltrops and Gokhru (India) is a shrub found in the Southern part, Deccan region of India and in some parts of Ceylon. Different parts of the plant are used to treat various ailments like, cough, cold and as an antiseptic. Interestingly, P. murex is reported traditionally to have an excellent cure in patients with reproductive disorders which are mainly impotency in men, nocturnal emissions, gonorrhoea as well as leucorrhoea in women. The plant has also benifited in complications like urinary track disorder as well as gastro intestinal tract disorders. Phytochemically the plant is popular for the presence of a considerable amount of diosgenin and vanillin which are regarded as an important source and useful starting materials for synthesizing steroidal contraceptive drugs and isatin alkaloids. Other phytochemicals reported in the plant includes quercetin, ursolic acid, caffeic acid, amino acids (glycine, histidine, tyrosine, threonine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid) and various classes of fatty acids (triacontanoic acid, nonacosane, tritriacontane, tetratriacontanyl and heptatriacontan-4-one). Pharmacologically, the plant have been investigated for antiulcerogenic, nephroprotective, hypolipidemic, aphrodisiac, antioxidant, antimicrobial and insecticidal activities. From all these reports it can be concluded that the plant were found to have a better profile with potential natural source for the treatment of various range of either acute or chronic disease. The overall database of our review article was collected from the scientific sources in regards with all the information of the research article for P. murex published so far.

Antidiabetic activity of alcoholic leaves extract of Alangium lamarckii Thwaites on streptozotocin-nicotinamide induced type 2 diabetic rats

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate antidiabetic potential of alcoholic leaves extract of Alangium lamarckii (A. lamarckii) on streptozotocin-nicotinamide induced type 2 diabetic rats.@*METHODS@#Oral glucose tolerance test was done by inducing hyperglycemic state via administration of glucose in water (2g/kg). Single dose of alcoholic leaves extract of A. lamarckii (250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o.) were administered to normoglycemic, hyperglycemic rats. Type 2 diabetes was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of nicotinamide (110 mg/kg) followed by streptozotocin (65mg/kg). The study also included estimations of blood plasma glucose, lipid profile, liver glycogen, body weight and antioxidant status in normal and diabetic rats.@*RESULTS@#Admistration of alcoholic extract of A. lamarckii at two dosage 250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o. did not showed any significant change in blood glucose level of normoglycemic rats (P>0.05), whereas, oral glucose tolerance test depicted reduction in blood glucose level (P<0.05). The streptozotocin-nicotinamide induced diabetic rats, significantly decreased the blood plasma glucose level (P<0.001) comparable to glibenclamide (10 mg/kg), restored the lipid profile and showed improvement in liver glycogen, body weight and antioxidant status in diabetic rats.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Present finding demonstrated the significant antidiabetic activity of alcoholic leaves extract of A. lamarckii.

Evaluation of phytochemical and antioxidant activities of the different fractions of Hybanthus enneaspermus (Linn.) F. Muell. (Violaceae)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the naturally occurring antioxidant for the first time from the different solvent fractions of Hybanthus enneaspermus (H. enneaspermus) Linn F. Muell. family (Violaceae).@*METHODS@#Different fractions of H. enneaspermus were tested for total phenolic content, and in vitro antioxidant activity was measured by total antioxidant assay, DPPH assay, reducing power, nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) scavenging assays.@*RESULTS@#The ethyl acetate (EA) fraction was found to have high levels of phenolic content [(212.15±0.79) mg GAE/g]. The EA fraction exhibited higher total antioxidant capacity, higher percentage of DPPH radical scavenging activity [(127.07±2.29) μg/mL], nitric oxide [(245.16±1.44) μg/mL], hydrogen peroxide [(227.38±7.18) μg/mL], deoxyribose [(270.61±8.72) μg/mL] and higher reducing power. There was a significant correlation between total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity (r(2)=0.972).@*CONCLUSIONS@#These results reveal that EA fraction of H. enneaspermus has strong antioxidant potential compared with other fractions. Our further study has been extended to the isolation of the possible compound that is responsible for having antioxidant property.