ABSTRACT
The present study was conducted to investigate whether the active compound(s) of spirulina is present in its -- alcohol extract, hexane extract, DCM extract or in their residues. In phase I the accumulation of arsenic in isolated liver tissues of rat at different incubation period (15, 30, 45 minutes) was seen. In phase II arsenic-loaded liver tissues were incubated in presence and absence of alcohol extract, alcohol extraction residues, hexane extract, hexane extraction residues, DCM extract and DCM extraction residues of spirulina respectively. The percentage removal of arsenic from liver tissues by different extracts and residues of spirulina was estimated by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. In phase III arsenic-loaded liver tissues were incubated in presence and absence of different concentration of hexane extract of spirulina and the percentage removal of arsenic from liver tissues was estimated. This study showed that the accumulation of arsenic in isolated liver tissue was time dependent and highest accumulation found was 0.69 microg/g tissues after 45 minutes incubation, which was highly significant. The percentage removal of arsenic from arsenic loaded liver tissues by alcohol extract, alcohol extraction residues, hexane extract, hexane extraction residues, DCM extract, DCM extraction residues were 33.8%,4.4%,83.0%,10.2%,7.3% and 2.9%, respectively. The percentage removal of arsenic by hexane extract at the concentration of 1, 10, 100 microg were 13.2%, 29.4% and 89.7%, respectively. Among the different extracts and residues of spirulina the hexane extract causes highly significant (p<0.001) removal. In conclusion the present study suggests that the active compound(s) of spirulina is present mostly in its hexane extract.