In vivo antioxidant assessment of two antimalarial plants-Allamamda cathartica and Bixa orellana

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the free radical scavenging potentials pytochemical constituents of ethanol leaves extracts of Allamanda cathartica (A. cathartica) and Bixa orellana (B. orellana) and thus their effects in antimalarial activities.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Both ethanol extracted plant samples were administered at 50 mg/mL, 100 mg/mL and 200 mg/mL to Albino rats and then administered with CCl4 at 1 mL/kg body weight, in liquid paraffin (1:1, v/v) for 2 days (negative control) and compared with 5% Tween 80 (placebo) and vitamin E (positive control) pretreatments. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) activities in blood and liver tissues were assessed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In CCl4 treated rats, TBARS levels significantly increased, while decreased GSH and CAT levels were recorded for both plant extracts. Generally, higher TBARS and GSH values were recorded for blood than for liver homogenates; with reverse trend observed for CAT level. Increased concentrations of A. cathartica extract recorded significant antioxidant levels similar to tocopherol (vitamin E). Reducing sugars, saponins, flavonoids were recorded for both species; alkaloids in A. cathartica and terpenoids in B. orellana.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>A. cathartica, possess phytochemicals that recorded significant antioxidative defense activities for blood and liver tissues with increasing concentration. However B. orellana did not record similar results.</p>

In vivo antioxidant assessment of two antimalarial plants-Allamamda cathartica and Bixa orellana

Objective: To determine the free radical scavenging potentials pytochemical constituents of ethanol leaves extracts of Allamanda cathartica (A. cathartica) and Bixa orellana (B. orellana) and thus their effects in antimalarial activities. Methods: Both ethanol extracted plant samples were administered at 50 mg/mL, 100 mg/mL and 200 mg/mL to Albino rats and then administered with CCl4 at 1 mL/kg body weight, in liquid paraffin (1:1, v/v) for 2 days (negative control) and compared with 5% Tween 80 (placebo) and vitamin E (positive control) pretreatments. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) activities in blood and liver tissues were assessed. Results: In CCl4 treated rats, TBARS levels significantly increased, while decreased GSH and CAT levels were recorded for both plant extracts. Generally, higher TBARS and GSH values were recorded for blood than for liver homogenates; with reverse trend observed for CAT level. Increased concentrations of A. cathartica extract recorded significant antioxidant levels similar to tocopherol (vitamin E). Reducing sugars, saponins, flavonoids were recorded for both species; alkaloids in A. cathartica and terpenoids in B. orellana. Conclusions: A.cathartica, possess phytochemicals that recorded significant antioxidative defense activities for blood and liver tissues with increasing concentration. However B. orellana did not record similar results.

Thrombolytic Activity and Preliminary Cytotoxicity of Five Different Fractions of Methanol Extract of Allamanda cathartica Leaf.

Investigation with the crude methanol extract of Allamanda cathartica leaves and its different fractions were carried out to evaluate its possible thrombolysis and cytotoxic activities. A quick & rapid methodology (In-vitro Thrombolytic model) was applied to find out their thrombolytic potential where streptokinase and water were employed as a positive and negative controls, respectively. Among the extractives, the chloroform (CSF) and hexane (HSF) soluble fractions showed 34.51±0.669% and 32.179±0.581% clot lysis activity respectively compared to standard streptokinase which exhibited 61.5% lysis of clot. In brine shrimp lethality bioassay method, the LC50 values of the test samples of A. cathartica leaves were assayed where DMSO and Vincristine sulphate were used as solvent & as positive control respectively. The chloroform, hexane and carbon tetrachloride soluble fractions showed significant cytotoxic activity against brine shrimp nauplii and LC50 values were 1.45, 5.00 and 5.24 μg/ml respectively.