In vitro immuno-stimulatory and anticancer activities of Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz.: An evidence for substitution of aerial parts for conservation.

BACKGROUND: In Ayurveda, "Dashamoolarishta" is one of the important composite herbal formulations. Mainly, the root and root bark of Oroxylum indicum are used as one of the ingredients in its preparation. This leads to over exploitation of medicinal plants owing, to excessive demand due to population expansion and its perceived importance in traditional herbal remedies. OBJECTIVE: For the conservation of biodiversity, the present investigation had an objective to prepare the extracts of different parts of O. indicum plant and to, compare the chemo-profiles as well as to study the biological activities of the prepared extracts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hydro-alcoholic (HA) and aqueous (Aq) extracts of various plant parts were prepared and chemical investigation was done with the help of (LC-MS/MS). Further, in vitro biological activities such as immuno-stimulation (IS) using a cytokine bioassay in RAW264.7 and in vitro anticancer in TNF-α ELISA in THP-1 cells were studied. RESULTS: The mass spectral profile of the plant revealed the presence of markers such as oroxylin A and chrysin in HA and Aq extracts of stem, leaf, bark and root. Cytokine release and TNF-α secretion was observed in both hydro-alcoholic and aqueous extracts. CONCLUSION: Based on the results from the present study, it can be concluded that it is possible to replace the roots and the bark of O. indicum with the stem of young plants and leaves. It paves a way for the conserving the medicinal plants without uprooting and extinguishing the whole plant.

Standardization of Ajmodadi churna, a polyherbal formulation.

Standardization of herbal formulations is essential in order to assess the quality of drugs, based on the concentration of their active principles. This article reports on standardization of Ajmodadi churna, a polyherbal ayurvedic medicine used as a carminative and an antispasmodic, and is a strong wormifuge, and helps in all painful conditions like sciatica and stiffness in back and also restores normal digestive functions. Ajmodadi churna was prepared as per Ayurvedic Formulary of India. In-house preparation and the marketed drug have been standardized on the basis of organoleptic characters, physical characteristics, and physico-chemical properties. The set parameters were found to be sufficient to evaluate the churna and can be used as reference standards for the quality control/quality assurance laboratory of a Pharmaceutical house.