Cassia oleoresin Mediated Synthesis of Magnesium Oxide Nanoparticles and Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay

Cassia oleoresin is an extract isolated from dried barks of Cinnamomum cassia Blume (family Lauracea). The plant has been reported to have anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anti-hypertriglyceridemic effect, mainly due to its phytochemical constituents such as phenolic and volatile compounds. Cinnamon also helps in arthritis, fibromyalgia and psoriasis. The aim of this study was to prepare magnesium oxide nanoparticles using Cassia oleoresin and to evaluate the cytotoxic effect on Brine shrimp. The magnesium oxide nanoparticle was prepared from magnesium chloride and Cassia oleoresin and was confirmed by UV- Visible Spectroscopy and morphology was confirmed by TEM. Brine shrimps lethality bioassay was carried out to investigate the cytotoxicity of Cassia oleoresin mediated magnesium oxide nanoparticles. Ten brine shrimp nauplii were placed in each well of the Eliza plate and filled with 5 μL ,10 μL ,15 μL ,20 μL ,25 μL of Cassia oleoresin mediated magnesium oxide nanoparticles After 24 hours of incubation, the wells were observed and the number of surviving brine shrimp nauplii were counted to assess the cytotoxicity. The UV -Visible spectroscopy showed a peak at 400 peak and TEM analysis showed a particle size of 70 nm. After 24 hours incubation of the brine shrimps in the nanoparticle solution, all 10 brine shrimps survived in 5μL and 10 μL concentrations. 3 brine shrimps nauplii survived in 15μL conc. 1 brine shrimp nauplii survived in 20μL and 25μL concentrations each. Within the limits of this study it can be concluded that at low concentrations the prepared nanoparticle was safe and may be used for biomedical application.

Evaluation of the cytotoxic activity of extracts from medicinal plants used for the treatment of malaria in Kagera and Lindi regions, Tanzania.

A number of medicinal plants used for treatment of malaria in Tanzania have been documented, but information on their safety and efficacy is still based on traditional knowledge accumulated over years and not on pre-clinical and clinical evaluation. The present study aimed to assess the cytotoxic activity of extracts of selected plant species used for treatment of malaria in Tanzania. Ethanol extracts were evaluated for cytoxicity by using MTT assay on LLC-MK2 cells and by brine shrimp lethality assay. Forty five (93.75%) out of 48 crude extracts assessed using LLC-MK2 cells were non-cytotoxic while three extracts (6.25%) were cytotoxic with CC50 <30 μg/mL (cut-off point). In the brine shrimp assay 30 (65.2%) out of 46 extracts tested were non-toxic while 16 extracts (34.8%) were toxic (LC50 <100 μg/mL). Antiaris toxicaria stem bark extract was the most cytotoxic to mammalian cells. This study demonstrates that, most of the antimalarial plants tested were non-toxic. These observations corroborate with traditional healers’ claims that the herbal medicines used in their areas are safe. However, further studies using different toxicity models are suggested to further confirm their claims.

Phytochemical and toxicological investigations of crude methanolic extracts, subsequent fractions and crude saponins of Isodon rugosus

BACKGROUND: Isodon rugosus is used traditionally in the management of hypertension, rheumatism, tooth-ache and pyrexia. Present study was arranged to investigate I. rugosus for phytoconstituents, phytotoxic and cytotoxic activities to explore its toxicological, pharmacological potentials and to rationalize its ethnomedicinal uses. Briefly, qualitative phytochemical analysis of the plant extracts were carried out for the existence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, oils, glycosides, anthraquinones, terpenoids, sterols and tannins. Plant crude methanolic extract (Ir.Cr), its subsequent fractions; n-hexane (Ir.Hex), chloroform (Ir.Chf), ethyl acetate (Ir.EtAc), aqueous (Ir.Aq) and saponins (Ir.Sp) in different concentrations were tested for phytotoxic and cytotoxic activities using radish seeds and brine shrimps (Artemia salina) respectively. The phytotoxic activity was determined by percent root length inhibition (RLI) and percent seeds germination inhibition (SGI) while the cytotoxicity was obtained with percent lethality of the brine shrimps. RESULTS: Ir.Cr was tested positive for the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, oils, terpenoids, saponins, tannins and anthraquinones. Among different fractions Ir.Sp, Ir.Chf, Ir.EtAc, and Ir.Cr were most effective causing 93.55, 89.32, 81.32 and 58.68% inhibition of seeds in phytotoxicity assay, with IC50 values of 0.1, 0.1, 0.1 and 52 µg/ml respectively. Similarly, among all the tested samples, Ir.Sp exhibited the highest phytotoxic effect causing 91.33% root length inhibition with IC50 of 0.1 µg/ml. Ir.Sp and Ir.Chf were most effective against brine shrimps showing 92.23 and 76.67% lethality with LC50 values of 10 and 12 µg/ml respectively. CONCLUSIONS: It may be inferred from the current investigations that I. rugosus contains different secondary metabolites and is a potential source for the isolation of natural anticancer and herbicidal drug molecules. Different fractions exhibited phytotoxic and cytotoxic activities, thus providing pharmacological basis for ethnomedicinal uses of this plant.