Nuciferine from Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. attenuates isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction in Wistar rats.

The study explored the cardioprotective role of the methanolic leaf extract of Nelumbo nucifera and nuciferine against isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction (MI) in Wistar rats. Pretreatment with leaf extract and nuciferine (200 and 20 mg/kg body weight, respectively) against MI induced by isoproterenol (85 mg/kg body weight) significantly decreased heart weight; levels of cardiac markers such as lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase-MB were similar to those in controls. The treatment significantly increased the content of endogenous antioxidants and decreased lipid peroxidation in all treated groups. Treated groups showed a significant reduction in heartbeats per minute as compared with the MI-induced positive control. The MI-induced group showed pathological implications such as tachycardia, left atrial enlargement, and anterolateral ST-elevated MI, which were absent in treated groups. Histology confirmed that the leaf extract and nuciferine prevented structural abnormality and inflammation in heart and liver tissues of treated groups. On in silico analysis, nuciferine showed stronger binding interaction with both ß1 and ß2 adrenergic receptors than isoproterenol. Hence, the leaf extract of N. nucifera and nuciferine could be used as plant-based cardioprotective agents.

Protective effect of Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.) against H2O2-induced oxidative stress on H9c2 cardiomyocytes.

Ischemic heart disease (IHD), a severe condition of myocardium facing impediment in the supply of basic needs for cellular metabolism is caused by atherosclerosis. Though statin drugs could control the use of surgery on IHD patients, the complete rehabilitation or prophylaxis can be achieved through herbal-based medicines viz. either in the form of crude extract or pure phytocompounds. In the present study, pretreatment with leaf extract of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. was investigated for cardioprotective activity-in vitro by mitigating H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Analysis such as estimation of antioxidants, lipid peroxidation, and DNA fragmentation assay revealed significant protective effect of plant extract on cardiomyocytes. Reactive oxygen species detection was done by using 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate, apoptosis detection with Acridine Orange/Ethidium Bromide and nuclear damage detection by diamidino-2-phenylindole which confirmed the protective effect of N. nucifera extract. In addition, gene expression studies of apoptotic regulatory genes (Bcl2 and Cas-9) resulted in significant protection of nucifera extract pretreated and maintained cells. To conclude, in vitro cardioprotective activity of N. nucifera against H2O2 induced oxidative stress was achieved at the concentration of 50 µg/ml. Therefore, major phytocompounds present in extract could be beneficial in managing cardiac complications in the future.

Photocatalytic degradation of synthetic food dye, sunset yellow FCF (FD&C yellow no. 6) by Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. possessing antioxidant and cytotoxic activity.

The purpose of our work is to identify the bioactive compounds of bark and leaves extract from Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. and to explore its effectiveness against synthetic food dye. The presence of primary and secondary metabolites was confirmed by carrying out phytochemicals analysis. With the prior knowledge accessible on the indispensable secondary metabolites holding antioxidant and cytotoxicity activity, the quantitative screening of total phenolic and flavonoid content in methanolic and aqueous extract of bark and leaves from Ailanthus excelsa were done. Comparatively, a higher value of flavonoid (161±0.3µg/mg) and phenolic acid content (152.4±0.14µg/mg) was found in bark extract. By FTIR analysis, the characteristic peak was obtained at 1581.63 and 1598.99cm-1 confirmed the presence of functional groups associated to flavonoids and other phenolic groups respectively. In bark extract, 81% of DPPH inhibition was observed when compared to ascorbic acid (standard) 92% of free radical scavenging activity. Bark extract from Ailanthus excelsa exhibited 71% cytotoxicity against HeLa cell line (cervical cancer). In examining the toxicity level of crude extracts with red blood cells (RBC), the bark extract was showed a very less (2.8%) haemolytic activity. They also showed maximum zone of inhibition in antibacterial activity i.e. 13±0.5mm against Escherichia coli culture. At a concentration of 10mg/mL of crude extract from A. excelsa, 55% degradation of sunset yellow dye was observed. It concludes that, the compounds present in the A. excelsa, especially the bark extract showed better photocatalytic, haemolytic, antioxidant, cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity when compared to leaves extract.