Morpho-anatomical and physicochemical studies of Fumaria indica (Hausskn.) Pugsley

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study morpho-anatomical characters and physicochemical analysis of Fumaria indica (F. indica) (Hausskn.) Pugsley, (Fumariaceae), an important medicinal plant used extensively for treating a variety of ailments in various system of indigenous medicine.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Evaluation of the different parts of the plant was carried out to determine the morpho-anatomical, physicochemical, phytochemical and HPTLC fingerprinting profile of F. indica and other WHO recommended methods were performed for standardization.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Morpho-anatomical studies showed compound and pinnatifid leaf, 4 to 6 cm in length, linear and oblong in shape and anomocytic arrangement of stomata, thin walled parenchymatous cells, scattered, sclerenchymatous, capped vascular bundles and radiating medullary rays. Physicochemical studies showed foreign matter 0.2%, loss on drying 6.8%, total ash 16.77%, alcohol and water soluble extractives 8.92% and 20.26%, respectively, sugar 17.75%, starch 22.97% and tannins 2.37%. Phytochemical evaluation revealed the presence of carbohydrate, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and sterol. Thin layer chromatography was carried out with different solvents and the best solvent system was chloroform and methanol in 80:20 ratio and revealed 12 spots with different Rf value under UV light 366λ.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The results of the study can serve as a valuable source of information and provide suitable standards for identification of this plant material for future investigations and applications.</p>

Evaluation of chemopreventive effect of Fumaria indica against N-nitrosodiethylamine and CCl4-induced hepatocellular carcinoma in Wistar rats

OBJECTIVE@#To investigation the chemopreventive potential of Fumaria indica (F. indica) extract (FIE) on N-nitrosodiethylamine and CCl(4)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in Wistar rats.@*METHODS@#The experimental animals were divided into six groups (n=6). Hepatocellular carcinoma was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) in normal saline at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight followed by weekly subcutaneous injections of CCl(4)(3 mL/kg/week) for 6 weeks, as the promoter of carcinogenic effect. After administration of the carcinogen, 200 and 400 mg/kg of FIE were administered orally once a day throughout the study. At the end of 20 weeks, the body weight, liver weight and relative liver weight were measured. The percentage of nodule incidence and liver cancer markers such as aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT), total bilirubin level (TBL), α-feto protein (AFP) and carcinoembryonic antigen were estimated along with histopathological investigation in experimental groups of rats.@*RESULTS@#Obtained results demonstrated that the cotreatment with FIE significantly prevented the decrease of the body weight and also increased in relative liver weight caused by NDEA. The treatment with FIE significantly reduced the nodule incidence and nodule multiplicity in the rats after NDEA administration. The levels of liver cancer markers such as AST, ALT, ALP, γ-glutamyl transferase, TBL, AFP and carcinoembryonic antigen were substantially increased by NDEA treatment. However, FIE treatment significantly reduced the liver injury and restored the entire liver cancer markers. Histological observations of liver tissues too correlated with the biochemical observations.@*CONCLUSIONS@#These finding powerfully supports that F. indica exert chemopreventive effect by suppressing the tumor burden and restoring the activities of hepatic cancer marker enzymes on NDEA and CCl(4)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in Wistar rats.

[ effect of herbal drugs on neonatal jaundice]

Using herbal drugs is the common way for treatment of diseases in traditional and alternative medicine. These drugs have important role and strong cultural background among people in treatment of hyper-billirubinemia. It is necessary to evaluate the effect of herbal drugs by scientific methods. The goal of this study is to investigate the in vitro effect of common herbal drugs used traditionally in management of neonatal hyperbillirubinemia. in this study 0.5 cc of 5 common herbal drugs [Cichorium intybus, Fumaria parviflora, Zizyphus jujuba, Alhagi pseudoalhagi and Purgative manna] which are obtained by hydrochloric instillation were added to 1 ml of serum of jaundiced neonates and then the level of billirubin determined by Diazo blank method. This study revealed that only Cichorium intybus extract decreases the level of bilirubin significantly [p<0.05]. Other herbal drugs may decrease billirubin level with other mechanisms, for example by cathartic effect or activating of liver enzymes, but this study revealed that Cichorium intybus is the only drug that has direct decreasing effect on billirubin. For further investigation, we recommend to separate the effective substance of Cichorium intybus and determine its effectiveness in vivo