Anti-endotoxin effects of terpenoids fraction from Hygrophila auriculata in lipopolysaccharide-induced septic shock in rats.

CONTEXT: Hygrophila auriculata (K. Schum) Heine (Acanthaceae) has been traditionally used for the treatment of various ailments such as inflammation, rheumatism, jaundice and malaria. OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to separate terpenoid fraction (TF) from alcohol (70%) extract of the whole plant of Hygrophila auriculata and assess its anti-inflammatory activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HPTLC analysis of TF was performed for the estimation of lupeol. Edema was induced in Wistar albino rats by subplanter injection of 0.1 ml of 1% (w/v) carrageenan into the right hind paw after 1 h of TF administration (100 and 200 mg/kg oral). Septic shock was induced by intraperitoneal administration of LPS (100 µg/kg) in rats and interleukins (IL-1ß and IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), superoxide dismutase (SOD), lipid peroxidation (LPO), and nitric oxide (NO) were measured in serum. AutoDock 4.2 was used for molecular docking. RESULTS: Administration of TF significantly (p < 0.005) restored the serum levels of cytokines, LPO (7.77 ± 0.034 versus 4.59 ± 0.059 nmole of TBARS), NO (9.72 ± 0.18 versus 4.15 ± 0.23 µmol nitrite/mg of wet tissue), and SOD (4.89 ± 0.036 versus 7.83 ± 0.033 Unit/mg protein) compared with the LPS-challenged rats. Analysis of in silico results revealed that TNF-α is the most appropriate target in eliciting anti-inflammatory activity. CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that TF of Hygrophila auriculata possesses great promise as an anti-inflammatory agent which may be due to its antioxidant effect. Molecular docking results could be exploited for lead optimization and development of suitable treatment of inflammatory disorders.

Anticancer activity of Sargassum wightii Greville on Dalton's ascitic lymphoma.

AIM: Sargassum wightii Greville is a marine brown alga belonging to the Sargassaceae family which has about 200 species. The ethanolic extract of the whole dry plant powder contained numerous phytoconstituents, including flavonoids. The study was focused on the anticancer activity of Sargassum wightii in mice. METHOD: The ethanolic extract of Sargassum wightii (EESW) at two dose levels was used to examine the anticancer activity in mice using DAL cell lines to induce cancer. The body weight, viable and non-viable tumor cell count, mean survival time, increase in life span, and hematological parameters were observed for anticancer activity of EESW. RESULTS: The intraperitoneal inoculation of DAL cells in mice significantly increased cancer cell count. The decrease in the cancer cell number observed in the EESW-treated group cancer animals indicates that the test drug has a significant inhibitory effect on the tumor cell proliferation. Treatment with EESW also showed a significant decrease in tumor weight, and hence increased the lifespan of DAL-treated mice. In addition, EESW administration significantly restored the hematological parameters in DAL-treated mice. CONCLUSION: The present study results suggest that administration of extract offers enhanced antioxidant potential. Therefore it can be concluded from this study that EESW possesses anticancer activity.

Protective effect of tannins from Ficus racemosa in hypercholesterolemia and diabetes induced vascular tissue damage in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the protective effect of tannins from Ficus racemosa (F. racemosa) on the lipid profile and antioxidant parameters in high fat meal and streptozotocin induced hypercholesteremia associated diabetes model in rats. METHODS: The crude tannin fraction was separated from the acetone (70% v/v) bark extract of F. racemosa. Oral administration of tannin fraction (TF) (100 & 200 mg/kg body weight) to rats fed with high fat meal for 30 days (4% cholesterol, 1% cholic acid, 0.5% egg albumin) and injected with streptozotocin (35 mg/kg i.p. in citrate buffer on 14th day). RESULTS: The administration of TF significantly reverse the increased blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein and also significantly restored the insulin and high density lipoprotein in the serum. In addition tannins significantly restored the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and decreased the, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione, thereby restoring the antioxidant status of the organs to almost normal levels. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that two different doses of tannin supplementation had a favorable effect on plasma glucose and lipid profile concentrations. It also had an influence on attenuating oxidative stress in diabetic tats.

Protective effect of biflavones from Araucaria bidwillii Hook in rat cerebral ischemia/reperfusion induced oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemic brain injury. Flavonoids from various herbal extracts have been shown to be neuroprotective in experimental models of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). The present study was designed to investigate the neuroprotective effect of the biflavone rich fraction from Araucaria bidwillii Hook (ABH) (Family: Araucariaceae) in I/R induced oxidative stress. The I/R was induced by occluding bilateral common carotid arteries (BCCAO) for 30 min, followed by 24 h reperfusion. BCCAO caused significant depletion in superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH) and significant increase in lipid peroxidation (LPO) in various brain regions. The neurological deficit and sensory motor function were also decreased significantly by BCCAO group as compared to sham group animals. All the alteration induced by cerebral ischemia was significantly attenuated by 7 days' pretreatment with biflavone fraction (BFR) at the dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg, comparable to that given by Vitamin E (200 mg/kg). Consistent with neurobehavioral deficits, pretreatment with biflavones at higher doses significantly reduced ischemia-induced neuronal loss of the brain. In conclusion the biflavone rich fraction from A. bidwillii was found to protect rat brain against I/R induced oxidative stress, and attributable to its antioxidant properties.

Antioxidant effect of Cytisus scoparius against carbon tetrachloride treated liver injury in rats.

The study was aimed to investigate the antioxidant activity of Cytisus scoparius L. (Family: Leguminosae) on CCl(4) (carbon tetrachloride) treated oxidative stress in Wistar albino rats. CCl(4) injection induced oxidative stress by a significant rise in serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminases (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminases (SGPT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) along with reduction of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GRD). Pretreatment of rats with different doses of plant extract (250 and 500mg/kg) significantly lowered SGOT, SGPT, LDH and TBARS levels against CCl(4) treated rats. GSH and hepatic enzymes like SOD, CAT, GPx, GRD, and GST were significantly increased by treatment with the plant extract, against CCl(4) treated rats. The activity of extract at the dose of 500mg/kg was comparable to the standard drug, silymarin (25mg/kg). Based on these results, it was observed that Cytisus scoparius extract protects liver from oxidative stress induced by CCl(4) in rats and thus helps in evaluation of the traditional claim on this plant.