ABSTRACT
An aqueous alcoholic extract of Ipomoea carnea subsp. fistulosa was tested in vitro on isolated preparations of the frog rectus abdominis muscle and the rabbit perfused heart as well as in vivo in the chicken. The extract and succinylcholine (suxamethonium) contracted the frog rectus abdominis muscle and this action was blocked by tubocurarine, 1.5 micrograms/ml. Both extract and succinylcholine produced bradycardia of the rabbit heart which was antagonized by atropine, 20 micrograms/ml. Like succinylcholine, the extract produced spastic paralysis in chickens. It is suggested that the extract possesses a depolarizing action similar to that of succinylcholine.
Subject(s)
Muscle Contraction/drug effects , Myocardial Contraction/drug effects , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Succinylcholine/pharmacology , Animals , Anura , Chickens , Female , In Vitro Techniques , Male , Plant Extracts/toxicity , Plants, Toxic , RabbitsSubject(s)
Molluscacides , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plants, Medicinal , Animals , Snails , SudanABSTRACT
50 plants indigenous to the Sudan and of common use in Sudanese folk-medicine, were screened for their molluscicidal activity, using two local snail vectors, BULINUS TRUNCATUS and BIOMPHALARIA PFEIFFERI. At different concentrations 31 (62%) of these plant samples were found to be lethal to either one or both of the snail species. 28 (56%) proved to be lethal to BIOMPHALARIA PFEIFFERI, 22 (44%) gave 100% mortality to BULINUS TRUNCATUS; while 19 (38%) killed both snail hosts (Table I). The seven most active molluscicidal plants were phytochemically screened for their active constituents; four of them showed the presence of saponins.
ABSTRACT
A preliminary biological screening for molluscicidal activity of certain Sudanese plants used in Folk-medicine was carried out. 78 samples belonging to 51 species, 45 genera and 28 families were screened. The aqueous extracts of 18 samples belonging to 8 species, 6 genera and 5 families were found to be active against Bulinus truncatus and 7 of these were also found to be active against Biomphalaria pfeifferi. Successive extraction of the 18 active samples with petroleum ether, ethanol and water showed that the petroleum ether extracts of only 4 samples were active against Bulinus truncatus; while the alcoholic extracts of 16 samples were found to be active against the same snail species. Only the alcoholic extracts of 4 samples were proved to be active against Biomphalaria pfeifferi. In the successive extraction technique, only the aqueous extract of Gardenia vogelii fruit pulp was proved to be active against the two snail species tested.
Subject(s)
Biomphalaria , Bulinus , Molluscacides , Plant Extracts/toxicity , Plants, Medicinal , Acacia , Animals , Bulinus/drug effects , Medicine, Traditional , Phytotherapy , Species Specificity , SudanABSTRACT
The molluscicidal activity of Gnidia kraussiana Meisn leaf, stem and root was studied. Each morphological part was extracted with cold and boiling water, different organic solvent and successively with organic solvents of increasing polarity. Throughout it was found that the extracts of the root were the most potent followed by the stem. Boiling water extracts were more potent than cold water extracts, while in case of extraction with different organic solvents, the petroleum ether extracts of the root and stem were the most potent, while for the leaf, the ethanolic extract was the most potent. On successive extraction, the petroleum ether extracts of all organs were the most potent. Saponification of the petroleum ether extract of the root was carried out and the activity of the different fractions were tested. Different extract fractions were obtained from the 80 per cent ethanolic percolate of the root. Some of the physical properties and the phytochemical screening of the successive extractives of the three organs were studied.
