ABSTRACT
The existing therapeutic agents for the management of pain and pyrexia are not very efficient and accompanied by numerous side effects. Thus, new effective agents are the most needed. The present study investigates bioactivities and phytochemical screening of different parts of Cissus assamica (Vitaceae), a Bangladeshi tribal medicinal plant. Three plant parts stems, leaves and roots were collected, washed, dried, powdered and then prepared for cold extraction. The methanolic stems and leaves extracts were fractioned with four and two solvents respectively. Different plant extracts were then investigated for in vivo antinociceptive activity and only methanolic leaves extract was investigated for in vivo antipyretic activity. In Swiss-albino mice, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight doses were used for all extracts. In the peripheral antinociceptive activity, the methanolic stem extract and its dichloromethane, chloroform, pet ether fractions and methanolic roots extract at their both doses showed significant antinociceptive responses when compared to standard diclofenac sodium (60.49% inhibition). In the central antinociceptive activity, the response was found significant for methanolic stem and methanolic roots extract in their both doses compared to standard morphine. In antipyretic activity, methanolic leaves extract significantly reduced pyrexia level at 400 and 200 mg/kg body weight doses after two, three and 4 h of administration when compared to standard. So our findings indicate that this plant possesses noteworthy pharmacological activities which may be a basis for further researches to establish a possible mode of action of its different parts.
ABSTRACT
Background In the present study, we investigated the antibacterial, anthelmintic, and analgesic activities of methanol extract of P. sylvaticum leaves (MEPSL) in experimental models. Then, computational analysis (in silico molecular docking and PASS prediction) was performed to determine the potent phytoconstituents of total six isolated compounds of this plant for antibacterial and anthelmintic activities. Methods Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical studies were carried out by established methods. In vitro antibacterial activity was determined by disc diffusion technique and anthelmintic activity was tested against Tubifex tubifex worm whereas analgesic activity was determined by the acetic acid-induced writhing test in mice. Molecular docking study was performed using Schrödinger Maestro 10.1 and an online tool used for PASS prediction. Results Our phytochemical study revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, and also indicated a substantial amount of phenols (65.83 mg), flavonoids (102.56 mg), and condensed tannins (89.32 mg). MEPSL showed good antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Our result exhibited that MEPSL has strong anthelmintic action compared to standard levamisole. In addition, the extract also showed a dose-dependent and statistically significant analgesic activity at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg, body weight. Docking studies showed that piperine and piperlonguminine have the best scores for the tested enzymes. PASS predicted the antibacterial and anthelmintic activity of both phytoconstituents. Conclusions This study suggests that MEPSL possess significant antibacterial, anthelmintic, and analgesic activities which could be related to the presence of several phytochemicals. The phytoconstituents, i.e. piperine and piperlonguminine were found to be most effective in computational studies.
