ABSTRACT
Alambusha (Biophytum sensitivum) belonging to the family oxalidaceae, commonly known as Mukkutti, is mostly found in marshy regions of south India, abundantly seen during rainy season. It is known as the “Small Tree Plant” with sensitive leaflets and bright yellow circular small flowers resembles like a tree in its texture and looks. The phytochemistry of B.sensitivum showed a wide range of chemical compounds, such as, two biflavones, three flavonoids and two acids. The plant is described in Ayurvedic classics, by Nighantu Acharyas, as Krimighna herb. The plant, is traditionally believed to exhibit antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activity, radioprotection, immune-modulation, antibacterial, wound-healing, hypoglycemic actions. B.sensitivum has been used as traditional medicine for several purposes such as expectorant, stimulant, and tonic. It is recommended to be used in the treatment of stomach ache, asthma, treating insomnia, convulsions, cramps, chest complaints, inflammations, wound infections, tumors, and remedying chronic skin diseases. In the present review, all the available sources regarding the plant B. sensitivum was highlighted in a bird eye view
ABSTRACT
Aims: In vitro studies are highly instrumental in selecting a drug for a particular disease and also in getting the preliminary evidence to proceed for further In vivo pharmacological research. Hence, the study is designed to screen and identify the therapeutic suitability of this plant extract for the treatment of a particular disease. And to find out the presence of phytochemicals and antimicrobial activity of leaf callus cultures of Biophytum sensitivum Linn. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Botany and Microbiology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Nagarjuna Nagar, Guntur 522510, India during June 2010 to Dec 2010. Methodology: Here we induced the callus from the leaf explants of this species on Murashige and Skoog basal medium supplemented with various concentrations of BA and NAA. BA 1.0 mg/l with NAA 1.0mg/l is the best concentration for optimal results. The callus was extracted sequentially with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol for 24h by using Soxhlet apparatus. These extracts were used to investigate the presence of phytochemicals which was performed according to the Aiyelaagbe and Osamudiamen [29] and Egwaikhide et al. [30] methods. The mean values were statistically analyzed with the MINITAB 14 by the general one way (un stacked) analysis of variance (ANOVA) to find out the most effective extracts Results: The qualitative phytochemical analysis of various solvent extracts showed the presence of phytochemicals viz., Terpenoids, phenols, flavonoids, saponins, quinones and phenols. All the extracts except hexane showed highest zone of inhibition against gram positive and gram negative bacteria (4.46-22.9mm) as well as fungi (7.64-144.4mm) by agar well diffusion method at 100ppm concentrations. The results of present study indicate that the callus of this plant is a potential source of antimicrobial agents and drugs and need to be investigated further. Conclusion: From the present study, it is evident that, the antibacterial active constituent of Biophytum sensitivum is having a constant expression pattern over different pathogens. This plant leaf callus can be further subjected to enhancement and isolation of the therapeutic antimicrobials and carry out further pharmacological evaluation.
Subject(s)
Anti-Infective Agents/analysis , In Vitro Techniques , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Phytochemicals/analysis , Phytochemicals/chemistry , Plant Extracts/analysis , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Plant Leaves/chemistry , Plants, Medicinal/chemistryABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of aqueous solution of Biophytum sensitivum leaf extract (BSEt) on normal and streptozotocin (STZ)-nicotinamide-induced diabetic rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Diabetes was induced in adult male Wistar rats by the administration of STZ-nicotinamide (40, 110 mg/kg b.w., respectively) intraperitoneally. BSEt (200 mg/kg) was administered to diabetic rats for 28 days. The effect of extract on blood glucose, plasma insulin, total haemoglobin, glycosylated haemoglobin, liver glycogen and carbohydrate metabolism regulating enzymes of liver was studied in diabetic rats.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>BSEt significantly reduced the blood glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin levels and significantly increased the total haemoglobin, plasma insulin and liver glycogen levels in diabetic rats. It also increased the hexokinase activity and decreased glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase activities in diabetic rats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The results of our study suggest that BSEt possesses a promising effect on STZ-nicotinamide-induced diabetes.</p>