Major chemical constituents from Illicium griffithii Hook. f. & Thoms of North East India and their cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activities.

Illicium griffithii Hook. f. & Thoms is an endemic medicinal plant of North East India found in the Eastern Himalayan region of biodiversity mega centre. Herein, chemical investigation of I. griffithii, afforded five compounds and their structures were determined through extensive use of NMR, HRMS, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The complete proton-proton, proton-carbon coupling network of compound 1 was determined using 1H-1H COSY, HSQC and NOESY NMR experiments. All the compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity by MTT assay and antimicrobial activity by Agar well diffusion method. Compound 1 exhibited significant cytotoxicity activity against Lung cancer (A549) and pancreatic cancer (MIAPaCa2) cell lines with IC50 values of 15.01 ± 2.69 µg/mL and 47.77 ± 2.38 µg/mL, respectively. Further, the compound 1 exhibited good antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli and Candida albicans with MIC 7.50 ± 0.28 µg/mL and 7.50 ± 0.86 µg/mL, respectively. The other isolated compounds along with the extracts of I. griffithii also displayed moderate anticancer and antimicrobial activities against respective strains. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of isolation of compounds from bark, wood, and leaf along with cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activities of I. griffithii from the North Eastern region of India and could be a potential herbal medicine in near future.

Antihyperglycemic and in vivo antioxidative activity evaluation of Cinnamomum bejolghota (Buch.-Ham.) in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats: an ethnomedicinal plant in Assam.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the antihyperglycemic property of Cinnamomum bejolghota (Buch.-Ham.) on streptozotocin induced type-2 diabetic rats. METHODS: Oral glucose tolerance test level was measured at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after the administration of extract. The extract was orally administered once daily at two dose levels of 250 and 500 mg/kg for 15 d. The effect of methanolic extract of Cinnamomum bejolghota (MECB) on the divergence of body weights, blood glucose levels and the biochemical parameters viz., total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, triglyceride, aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase were measured in an autoanalyzer. Histopathology of pancreas and in vivo antioxidative status was studied. RESULTS: A significant increase in bodyweights and rapid decrease in hyperglycemic peak was experiential in animals treated with MECB. After 15 d treatment the total cholesterol, TG, low density lipoprotein level decreased and high density cholesterol level increased significantly. MECB reduced the levels of the elevated marker enzymes aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase and alkaline phosphatase. MECB reduced the lipid peroxidation and improved the level of catalase and glutathione in liver. Histopathological studies of pancreas in diabetic and treated groups substantiate the cytoprotective action of extract. CONCLUSIONS: It can be evident from the research work that Cinnamomum bejolghota (Buch.-Ham.) has potent antihyperglycemic activity and supports the in vivo antioxidative status.

Study on Antibacterial Activity of the Bark of Garcinia lanceifolia Roxb.

Garcinia lanceifolia Roxb. is an important and endemic medicinal plant of Assam which has been used by various ethnic communities of Northeast India to treat various disorders like dysentery, dyspepsia, and biliousness. The plant is considered to be containing much medicinal value and is also eaten raw or made into pickles by the local people. Our present study has been focused on the evaluation of the antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of the bark of Garcinia lanceifolia which may lead us to a scientific evidence of the use of this plant in cases of dysentery and diarrhoea.