13  

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Phytochemical Analysis

Srinivasan et al. (2007) investigated the phytochemical and pharmacognostical

properties of Vicoa indica. Egwaikhide and Gimba (2007) analyzed the hexane, ethyl

acetate and ethanol extracts of Plectranthus glandulosis for their secondary

metabolites. Infrared spectroscopic analysis of the hexane, ethyl acetate and ethanol

extracts of Plecthranthus glandulosis revealed the presence of O-H, C=O, C-H, C-N

and C-O bond stretching.Venkatesh et al. (2008) evaluated the pharmacognostical

studies on Dodonaea viscosa leaves.

Kalidass et al. (2009) evaluated the pharmacognostic studies including

microscopic, physicochemical constant (ash & extractive values), fluorescence

analysis and preliminary phytochemical evaluations of the root and stem of the

Ichnocarpus frutescens. Badgujar and Jain (2009) have isolated and characterized β-

sitosterol from the petroleum ether extract of Helicteres isora.

Bharat and Parabia (2010) studied the pharmacognostic evaluation of

Mimusops elengis stem bark and seed powder for ash and extractive value,

fluorescence and phytochemical analysis.  Zaveria and Jain (2010) investigated the

phytopharmacognostical studies of root bark of Oroxylum indicum. Mathur et al.

(2010) studied the macroscopic, microscopic and preliminary phytochemical

investigations of leaves of Amaranthus spinosus.

Handral et al. (2010) evaluated the morphological, microscopic characters,

physicochemical constant and phytochemical screening of Murraya koenigii leaves.

14  

Prathyusha et al. (2010) analyzed the morphological characters, organoleptic and

phytochemical studies of Abrus precatorius seed.

Chandak et al. (2010) investigated preliminary phytochemical analysis of

different extracts of leaf of Pergularia daemia and isolated β-Sitosterol, Stigmasterol

by using thin layer and column chromatography from diethyl ether and acetone

extract of the above said plant. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds

were established by spectroscopic techniques such as UV, IR and NMR. Mulla et al.

(2010) investigated the preliminary pharamacognostical and phytochemical

evaluation of petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and aqueous extracts of whole

plant of Portulaca quadrifida.

Pratima and Pratima (2011) evaluated the pharmacognostic characters of

Cajanus cajan leaf. Sutha et al. (2011) studied the macroscopic, microscopic features

and pharmacochemical characterizations like physicochemical constant, fluorescence

analysis, preliminary phytochemical analysis of leaf of Alstonia venenata. Kala et al.

(2011) evaluated the pharmacognostic and phytochemical analysis of different

extracts of four medicinally important plants viz, Enicostemma littorale, Euphorbia

hirta, Tephrosia purpurea and Desmodium laxum.

Rajan et al. (2011) investigated the pharmacognostical studies including

organoleptic, macroscopy, microscopic, physicochemical parameters and

phytochemical of Albizia odoratissima leaf. Dinakaran et al. (2011) evaluated

pharmacognostic character such as morphological, microscopic, histological and

physicochemical on Crotalaria juncea.

Sivakumar et al. (2011) studied the phytochemical analysis using paper

chromatography, HPTLC, UV and FTIR for the detection of some alkaloid content on

15  

the Polygonum glabrum. Anwar et al. (2011) analyzed the chloroform fraction of

Psoralea corylifolia by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Fourier

transform infrared (FT-IR), Fourier transform near infra red (FT-NIR) and UV-

Spectrophotometric methods.

Pandey et al. (2011) isolated p-β-D-Glucosyloxybenzoic acid, p-

Hydroxybenzoic and Caffeic acid from the whole plant of Abutilon indicum.

Kalimuthu et al. (2011) isolated colourless crystalline compounds of lacceroic acid

and Do-triacontanoic acid from the Limnophila polystachya. Sandeep et al. (2011)

investigated the organoleptic, microscopic characters, physicochemical, fluorescence

analysis and preliminary phytochemical studies of Crotalaria burhia.

Charles et al. (2011) studied the phytochemical analysis of bark extract of

Alseodaphneseme carpifolia. Gopalakrishnan and Vadivel (2011) investigated the

phytocompounds of ethanol extract of Mussaenda frondosa by GC-MS analysis.

Thenmozhi et al. (2011) reported the phytochemicals present in the methanol extract

of Eclipta alba and Emilia sonchifolia, using HPLC and FTIR.

Bairagi et al. (2012) studied the pharamacognostic evaluations,including

morphological, microscopic characters, physiochemical constants and phytochemical

screening of fresh leaf and flower of Quisqualis indica. Deepa et al. (2012)

investigated the pharmacognostic, fluorescence analysis and phytochemical screening

of leaf of Sapindus emarginatus in different solvents.

Kumar et al. (2012) studied the macroscopic, microscopic, physiochemical

analysis, preliminary phytochemical screening and fluorescence analysis of leaf of

Cayratia trifolia. Mazumder et al. (2012) investigated various pharmacognostical

parameters including macroscopic, microscopic, chemomicroscopic and behaviour of

16  

powdered drug on treatment with different chemical reagent and phytochemical

screening of the stem of Berberis aristata. Saha et al. (2012) analyzed

pharmacognostic studies and phytochemical screening on the aerial part of methanol

extract of Vernonia patula.

Kadam et al. (2012) studied the pharmacognostical parameters including

macromorphology, microscopical characters, physicochemical constants and

phytochemical screening of roots of Agave americana. Chothani and Patel (2012)

studied the preliminary phytochemical screening and pharmacognostic profile of leaf

of Gmelina arborea.

Prasanth et al. (2012) studied the phytochemical analysis of root of

Clerodendrum viscosum using petroleum ether, ethylacetate, chloroform and ethanol.

Singariya et al. (2012) determined the possible bioactive components (sterols)

in acetone extracts of Cenchrus setigerus using GC-MS. Anuradha and

Krishnamoorthy, (2012) studied the phytochemical analysis of methanol extract of

flower of Pongamia pinnata and then methanol crude extract was further fractionated

with the different solvents, benzene, diethyl ether and ethyl acetate and the chemical

composition of the ethyl acetate extract was determined by GC-MS. Abirami et

al.(2012) evaluated the bioactive compounds of methanol extract of Vernonia cinerea

using GC-MS.

Sermakkani and Thangapandian (2012) analyzed the methanol leaf extract of

Cassia italica using GC-MS. Mamzo et al. (2012) determined the possible bioactive

components of leaves of Phyllanthus amarus using GC-MS analysis. Ezhialn and

Neelamegam (2012) determined the possible chemical components in the whole plant

ethanol extract of Polygonum chinense by GC-MS.

17  

Sathish et al. (2012) characterized the bioactive constituents present in

different leaf extracts of Vitex altissima using UV-VIS, FTIR and GC-MS analysis.

Parikh and Rangrez (2012) investigated the presence of Oleic acid, tricosene, erucic

acid, tetra decanoic acid, pyrrolidinone, piperidine and eicosanoic acid like major

phytochemicals from the methanol extract of bark of Litsea glutinosa.

Palanisamy et al. (2012) carried out phytochemical screening using different

extracts of whole plant of Dipeteracanthus prostrates. Oluwayemi et al. (2012)

studied the phytochemicals from the Mitracarpus villosus, Euphorbia hirta and

Spermacoce ocymoides.

Shalini and Sampathkumar (2012) evaluated the phytochemical screening of

both methanol and aqueous extracts of Annona squamosa, Catharanthus roseus,

Sapindus emarginatus and Wrightia tinctoria.

Anand and Gokulakrishnan (2012) characterized the bioactive constituents

present in ethanol extract of Hybanthus enneaspermus using UV, FTIR and GC-MS.

UV profile showed different peaks ranging from 300-1100nm with different

absorption respectively. The FTIR spectrum confirmed the presence of phenols,

alcohols, alkyl halides, carboxylic acids, aromatics, nitro compounds and amines in

ethanolic extracts. The results of the GC-MS analysis provide different peaks

determining the presence of phytochemical compounds with different therapeutic

activities.

Antioxidant activity:

Kohen et al. (2000) evaluated the antioxidant activity of both water and lipid

soluble low molecular weight antioxidants (LMWA) using cyclic voltammetry

18  

approach. Chevion et al. (2000) identified the low molecular weight antioxidant

(LMWA) components of human plasma and animal tissues and further validated by

reconstruction of cyclic voltammetry tracing and by high-performance liquid

chromatography-electrochemical detection. Kilmartin et al. (2001) characterized the

phenolic antioxidants using cyclic voltammetry at a glassy carbon electrode.

Korotkova et al. (2002) suggested the highly attractive, convenient as

especially sensitive voltammetric approach for the study of antioxidant properties of

well-known antioxidants such as ascorbic acid and citric acid.

Roginsky et al. (2003) analyzed a series of eight green, eight oolong and 17

black teas for polyphenol content by absorbance at 272nm and cyclic voltammetry

response at an inert carbon electrode, a new method developed to provide a rapid

measure of easily oxidizable polyphenols in beverages.

Sousa et al. (2004) investigated the electrochemical oxidation of caffeic,

chlorogenicsinapic, ferulic and p-Coumaric acids by cyclic voltammetry on acetate

buffer, pH 5.6 on glassy carbon electrode and modified glassy carbon electrode.

Firuzi et al. (2005) evaluated the antioxidant activities of 18- structurally different

flavonoids by “Ferric reducing antioxidant power” (FRAP) assay modified to be used

to 96-well microplates.

Milardovic et al. (2006) proposed a new method for determination of

antioxidant activity of some water or ethanol soluble pure compounds of antioxidants

and of the samples of tea, wine and some other beverages based on the amperometric

reduction of1,1-diphenyl-2-pincrylhydrazyl (DPPH) at the glass carbon electrode.

19  

Zielinska et al. (2008) described the use of cyclic voltammetry (CV),

spectrophotometric methods [Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), peroxyl

radical trapping capacity (PRTC), DPPH radical scavenging activity (RSA), and

Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) reducing capacity], and photochemiluminescence

(PCL) for the measurement of the antioxidant capacity of onion var.sochaczewskaa

and var.szalotka.

Arulpriya et al. (2010) studied the electrochemical bahaviour of ethyl acetate

and petroleum ether extracts of Samanea saman by cyclic voltammetry using a three

electrode system. The extracts were investigated for presence of phytochemical

constituents and antioxidant activity assessed from its oxidatial potential values at

glassy carbon electrode.

Santos et al. (2010) described the isolation of the secondary metabolites

identified as the quinonemethidesmaytenin and pristimerin from Maytenus ilicifolia

extract obtained from root barks of adult plants and roots of seedlings and their

quantification by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array

detector. The antioxidant properties of individual components and the crude extracts

of the root barks of Maytenus ilicifolia were compared and the possible synergistic

associations of quinonemethidetriterpenes and phenolic substances were investigated

by using rutin as a model phenolic compound.

Zielinstia et al. (2010) measured the antioxidant activity of rutin and selected

common buck wheat – originated materials, namely grout, hull, flour and sprouts

against stable, non-biological radicals such as 2,2’-azinobis-(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-

6-sulphonate) radical cation (ABTS•+) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picnylhydrazyl radical

(DPPH•) using a spectrophotometric assay, against the key reactive oxygen

20  

intermediate-superoxide anion radical (O2•-) with a photochemiluminescence assay

(PCL) while reducing capacity was determined with the cyclic voltammetry method

(CV).

Madan et al. (2010) investigated the antioxidant activity of various extracts of

root and leaf of Flemingia strobilifera using different in vitro methods such as DPPH

radical scavenging method, nitric oxide radical inhibition assay and scavenging of

hydroxyl radical by p-NDA method. Seruga et al. (2011) analyzed the total

polyphenols (TP) content, concentration of individual polyphenols and antioxidant

activity (AA) of some red wines by ABTS and DPPH methods.

Shestivska et al. (2011) investigated the antioxidant properties of

Metallothionein isolated from rabbit liver as a standard reference solution and

compared its activity with extracts from wild type tobacco plants and from twelve

clones of transgenic tobacco plants variously carrying human or yeast metallothionein

using voltammetry at a carbon paste electrode.

Simona-Carmen et al. (2011) evaluated the radical scavenging properties of

extracts of acclimatized Lonicerae caerulea fructus, Myrtilli fructus, Equiseti herba,

Millefolii herba and Medicagini herba using as model a long life time free radical

1,1’-diphenyl -2-picrylhydrazil (DPPH).

Segneanu et al. (2012) determined the antioxidant capacity of Camellia

sinensis extracts in aqueous, acid and alcoholic media. The content of caffeine was

determined by using two methods: cyclic voltammetry and high-performance liquid

chromatography (HPLC).

21  

Boruah et al. (2012) evaluated the antioxidative effects by monitoring the

change of the oxidant potential in the redox cycle of 1, 4-diaminobenzene in the

presence of hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of the herbal products.

Ahmed and Shakeel (2012) investigated the antioxidant activity potential of Berberis

lycium, Zanthoxylum armatum and Morus nigra extracts against superoxide anion

radical while employing cyclic voltammetry technique. The voltammetric response of

the electrochemically generated superoxide anion radical in DMSO was monitored in

the absence and presence of the plant extracts.

Bhadauria et al. (2012) investigated the antioxidant activities of the various

fractions of the hydromethonalic extract of the roots of Coccinia grandis

(Curcurbitaceae) by using in vitro assays and were compared to standard antioxidants

such as ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, curcumin and butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT).

Sonibane and Abegunde (2012) determined the total antioxidant activity and total

phenolic content of tuber extracts of Dioscorea dumetorum (edible and wild species)

and Dioscorea hirtiflora by using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Folin-

Ciocalteau reagent. Khodaie et al. (2012) evaluated the antioxidant activity of

Pedicularis sibthorpii and Pedicularis wilhelmsiana which grow in Azerbaijan/Iran

with claimed a lot of therapeutic effects using DPPH assay.

Emynurshafekh et al. (2012) investigated the antioxidant potential of crude

methanol extract, chloroform and ethyl acetate soluble fractions of Vigna sinensis by

using total phenolic content, ferric reducing power, 2,2’-azinobis-(3-

ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) assay, ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and

thiobarbituric acid (TBA) tests. Ganga Rao et al. (2012) evaluated the antioxidant

activity of methanol leaf extract of Entada pursaetha by using superoxide radical,

hydroxyl radical and DPPH radical scavenging methods.

22  

Jothy et al. (2012) investigated the in vitro antioxidant activity of methanol

extracts from Polyalthia longifolia and Cassia spectabilis using established in vitro

models such as ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-

hydrazyl (DPPH•), hydroxyl radical (OH•) nitric oxide radical (NO•) scavenging,

metal chelating and antilipid peroxidation activities.

EI-Sayed et al. (2012) studied the defatted methanol extracts of leaves, stems,

fruits and flowers of Conocarpus erectus showed high free radical scavenging activity

toward DPPH radical with SC50 between 6.47-9.4mg/ml. Nandy et al. (2012) studied

the free radical scavenging potential of Leucas plukenetii by using ferrous sulphate

induced lipid peroxidation and superoxide scavenging models and using vitamin C

(5mM) as standard.

Deep et al. (2012) screened the hydro-methanolic extract from bark of Ginko

biloba for their in vitro antioxidant activity, determined by means of 1,1-diphenyl-2-

picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) and reducing power scavenging

activity. Sami et al. (2012) evaluated the antioxidant activity of Eight Libyan

medicinal plants belonging to different families, by using 1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picryl

hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method.

Nomaani et al. (2012) studied the antioxidant activity of fresh and dry leaves

crude extracts of Lactuca sativa by well established free radical scavenging activity

(DPPH) method.

Yang et al. (2012) investigated the antioxidant activities of barks, buds, and

leaves of Cinnamomum cassia extracted with ethanol and supercritical fluid

extractions (SFE). Dasari et al. (2012) investigated the quantification of total

phenolic, alkaloid content and in vitro antioxidant activity of ethanol (70%),

23  

methanol, ethyl acetate and hexane extracts of Synadium grantii by taking gallic acid

and atropine as a standards and by using different free radicals (superoxide, hydroxyl

and DPPH).

Wang and Dai, (2012) studied the in vitro radical binding activity with DPPH

(1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazy radical) and total antioxidant power (ferric

reducing/antioxidant power, FRAP), total phenolic content of the water and alcohol

extracts of ten Chinese herbs from local pharmacy.

Arteaga et al. (2012) investigated the antioxidant activity of a number of small

(low molecular weight) natural compounds found in spices, condiments or drugs such

as gallic acid, sesamol, eugenol, thymol, carvacrol, vanillin, salicylaldehyde,

limonene, geraniol, 4-hexylresorcinol etc, using electrochemical and DPPH radical

scavenging measurements.

Ahmed and Shakeel, (2012) investigated the electrochemically generated

superoxide radical anion (O2•) in the presence of some commercial flavonoids.

Nicholson-Shain method was employed by him to estimate the bimolecular

homogeneous kinetics and on this basis control use of antioxidant is pointed out.

Anticancer activity

Cancer is the second major cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. It is a

disease characterized by unregulated proliferation of cells. The search for natural

products as potential anticancer agents dates back, at least, to the Ebers papyrus in

1550 BC, but the scientific period of this search is much more recent, beginning with

the investigations by Hartwell and co-workers in late 1960s on the application of

Podophyllotoxin and its derivatives as anticancer agents. A large number of plants,

24  

marine and microbial sources have been tested as leads, and many compounds have

survived the potential leads.

Plants have been of use in the treatment of cancer for a long period. Hartwell,

in his review plants against cancer, list more than 3000 plant species that have been

reportedly used in the treatment of cancer. The search for anticancer agents from the

plant source started in earnest in the 1950’s with the discovery and development of

Vinca alkaloids, Vincristine and Vinblastine and isolation of the cytotoxic

podophyllotoxins. These discoveries promoted the United States National Cancer

Institute (NCI) to initiate an extensive plant collection program in 1960. This leads to

the discovery of many novel chemotypes showing a range of cytotoxic activities,

including the taxanes and camptothecins. Taxol is a diterpenoid compound isolated

from Taxus brevifolia and these molecules called taxanes by the US Department of

Agriculture (USDA) for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The use of various parts

of T. brevifolia and other Taxus species, T. canadiensis, and T. baccata were used for

the treatment of some non-cancerous conditions. The leaves of T. baccata are used in

traditional Asiatic Indian Ayurvedic medicine system, with one reported in the

treatment of cancer. Palitaxel, occurs in the leaves of various Taxus species has

provided a major renewable natural sources of natural drugs. It is used in the

treatment of breast, ovarian and non- small-cell lung cancer, and has shown efficacy

against Kaposi sarcoma (Cragg and Newman, 2004/Rev.2006).

Another important addition to the anticancer drug armametarium is the class

of clinically-active agents derived from camptothecin, which is isolated from the

Chinese ornamental tree Camptotheca acuminata (Nyssaceae), known in China as the

tree of joy. The derivatives of Camptothecine, Topotecin and Irinotecan, originally

developed by Japanese company. YAKUH Honsha, are now in clinical use. These are

25  

used for the treatment of ovarian lung cancer and colorectal cancers (Cragg and

Newman, 2004/Rev.2006).

Other plant derived agents in clinical use are homoharringtonine, isolated from

the Chinese tree Cephalotaxus harringtonia var. drupacea and elliptinium a

derivative of the ellipticine, isolated from the several genera of the Apocynaceae

family including Bleekeria vitensis have reputed anticancer properties (Cragg and

Newman, 2004/Rev.2006).

The two clinically active agents, etoposide and teniposide, which are semi

synthetic derivatives of the natural product, epipodophyllotaxin (an isomer of

podophyllotaxin), may be considered as being more closely linked to a plant,

Podophyllum species used for the treatment of cancer. Podophyllum peltatum

(American Podophyllum) and Podophyllum emodii from India (Indian Podophyllum),

have a long history of medicinal use, including the treatment of skin cancers and

warts. The major active constituent of this plant is podophyllotaxin. With the

identification of an increasing number of molecule targets associated with particular

cancers; anticancer drug discovery is now based on through screening of compounds

against a range of such target (Cragg and Newman, 2006)

Forty four extracts from sixteen plants were used traditionally as anticancer

agents and evaluated in-vitro for their antiproliferative activity against Hep-2, MCF-7

and Vero cell lines. Twenty of these extracts demonstrated significant

antiproliferative activity against one or more of the cell lines. Among the tested

extracts, methanol fractions of Ononis hirta (aerial parts) and Irula viscosa (flowers)

were the most active fractions against MCF-7 cells (Talib and Mahasneh, 2010). The

ethanol, petroleum ether and dichloromethane extracts of Thelesperma

26  

megapotamicum, Oxalis erythrorhiza and Larrea divaricata showed high inhibitory

activity on MCF -7 (cell line from human breast cancer) cells line proliferation

(Bongiovanni et al.,2006). The anticancer activity of hydro distilled essential oils

obtained from flowers of Matricaria chamomilla and the dried leaves of Marjorana

hortensis against leukaemia HL-60 and NB 4 cells were tested in-vitro. The essential

oils of above said plants could be used as a potential natural antioxidant and

anticancer agents (Romeilah, 2009).

Some medicinal plants have been found effective in various types of

malignant (cancer) and benign tumours of humans and experimental animals. These

include: Agrimonia pilosa in sarcoma-180; Ailanthus altissima in intestinal cancer,

sarcoma-180, sarcoma-37 and leukaemia-16; Akebia quinata in sarcoma-180 and

sarcoma-37; Chelidonium jajus var. asiaticum in stomach cancer; Chimaphila

umbellata in breast tumour; Coix lachrymahjobi in ascites cancer and Yoshida’s

sarcoma; Fritillaria thunbergii in tumours of the throat, chest, neck and breast;

Larrea tridentata in various cancers, especially leukaemia; Lonicera japonica in

ascites carcinoma and sarcoma-180; Nidus vespae in gastric and liver cancer;

Oldenlandia diffusa in leukaemia, Yoshida’s sarcoma, sarcoma-180 and Ehrlich’s

ascites sarcoma; Patrinia hetrophylla and P. scabiosaefolia in ascites cancer;

Phaleria macrocarpa in oesophageal cancer; Polygonum cuspidatum in sarcoma-

180; Pteris multifida in sarcoma-180, sarcoma-37 and Yoshida’s sarcoma; Pygeum

africanum in prostate cancer; Pyrus malus in lung, colon, breast and intestinal cancer;

scutellaria barbata in sarcoma-180 and Ehrlich’s ascites carcinoma; Smilax chinensis

and S. glabra in sarcoma-180 and ascites sarcoma; Solanum lyrati in sarcoma-180,

sarcoma-37, Ehrlich’s ascites carcinoma and stomach cancer; Sophora flavescens and

S. subprostrata in sarcoma-180, leukaemia and cervical cancer-14 cells; Taraxacum

27  

mongolicum in ascites cancer, sarcoma-180 and lung cancer cells and Vitex

rotundifolia in lung tumour. (Hsu, 1990; Hecht et al., 1990 ; Pan, 1992; Chang, 1992;

Boik, 1995; Han and Xu, 1998; Eberhsrdt et al., 2000 ; Prajapati et al., 2003; Faried et

al., 2007).

Pradhan et al. (2008) studied the methanol extracts of Foeniculum vulgare and

Helicteres isora against normal human blood lymphocytes by micronucleus assay and

antitumour activity against B16F10 melanoma cell line by trypan blue exclusion assay

for cell viability. 70% methanol extract of Foeniculum vulgare have good antitumour

activity and 50% methanolic extract of Helicteres isora delayed good antitumour

activity. They stated that Foeniculum vulgare and Helicetres isora could be

considered as a normal resource of antitumour agents.

Nisa et al. (2011) examined the crude methanol extract and fractions of

Debregeasia salicifolia stem for their anticancer activity on MCF-7 cancer cell line by

3-(4,5-dimethlthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay.The ethanol

extract of Argemone mexicana (Papaveraceae), Polyalthia longifolia (Annonaceae),

Terminalia bellarica and Terminalia chebula (Combretaceae) have been reported to

possess the in vitro anticancer activity (Gacche et al., 2011). The results obtained

indicates that P. longifolia possess a potential inhibiting activity towards Hela-B75

[(68.22±0.71)%] HEP-3B [(39.15±0.12)%] and PN-15 [(55.21±0.42)%] cancer cell

lines.

Kanwal et al. (2011) studied the antitumour activity of crude methanol extract

(CME) and three fractions, n-Hexane (n-HF), ethyl acetate (EAF) and aqueous (AQF)

of Hedera nepalensis, an important medicinal plant from Pakistan.

28  

Sakarkar and Deshmukh (2011) studied the plants used previously and

recently identified for treatment of cancer and to reduce the pains during the treatment

of cancer. With advanced knowledge of molecular science and refinement in isolation

and structure elucidation techniques, various anticancer herbs has been identified

which execute their therapeutic effect by inhibiting cancer-activating enzymes and

hormones, stimulating DNA repair mechanism, promoting production of protective

enzymes, inducing antioxidant action and enhancing immunity of the body.

Baeshen et al. (2012) confirmed the potential anticancer activity of the

medicinal herb, Rhazya stricta decne (Harmal) against human breast cancer cell lines,

MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. The defatted methanol extracts of leaves, stems, fruits

and flowers of Conocarpus erectus (Family: Combretaceae) been reported to exert

the high free radical scavenging activity toward DPPH radical with SC50 between

6.47-9.4µg/ml (Abdel-Hameed, et al., 2012). Due to the high antioxidant activity, it

was in-vitro assayed toward two human cancer cell lines; Hep G2 & MCF-7; using

sulphorhodamine-B assay method.

Marina et al. (2012) discussed the selective medicinal plants having anticancer

properties which could be further designed to produce cancer curing drugs. Medicinal

plants with their isolated lead molecules are also used as an alternative medicine for

treating neoplastic cells. Neoplastic cells are the anomalous proliferation of cells in

the body which cause cancer. Diverse efficient compounds derived from natural

products have been isolated as anticancer agents. These potential and successful

anticancer molecules include Vincristine, Vinblastin, Taxol, Camptothecin and

Podophyllotoxin.

29  

Antidiabetic activity

Several medicinal plants have been used as dietary adjunct and in the

treatment of numerous diseases without proper knowledge of their function. Although

phytotherapy is continued to be used in several countries, a few plants have received

scientific or medical scrutiny. Moreover, a large number of medicinal plants possess

some degree of toxicity. For example, Marles and Farnsworth (1994) reported that

about one third of medicinal plants used in the treatment of diabetes are considered to

be toxic. Numerous animal studies have shown that the ethanol leaf and flower

extracts of Vinca rosea and Ficus racemosa lower the blood glucose levels (Ghosh

and Gupta, 1980).

The extract of Achyranthes aspera produced a significant dose-related

hypoglycemic effect in normal and alloxan induced diabetic rabbits. The water and

methanol extracts of this plant also decreased blood sugar levels in these animals.

This plant might be providing certain necessary elements like calcium, zinc,

magnesium, manganese and copper to the beta-cells (Akhtar and Iqbal, 1991).Oral

administration of Asteracantha longifolia extract significantly improved glucose

tolerance in healthy human and diabetic patients (Fernando et al., 1991). S-allyl

cysteine sulphoxide (SACS), a sulphur-containing amino acid of Allium sativum, is

the precursor of allicin and garlic oil. SACS had been found to show a significant

antidiabetic effect in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Administration of alloxan induced

diabetic rats, with SACS at the dose of 200 mg/Kg body weight, significantly

decreased the concentration of serum lipids, blood glucose and activities of serum

enzymes like alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase and liver

glucose 6 phosphatase. It significantly increased the liver and intestinal HMG CoA

reductase activity and liver hexokinase activity (Sheela and Augusti, 1992). Benjamin

30  

et al. (1994) reported that, Catharanthus roseus could be used as potential

hypoglycemic agent because the leaf extract of this plant was found to increase

insulin and in the restoration of blood glucose and body weight to normal levels.

Saponin isolated from the leaves of Acanthopanax senticosus, when injected to

experimental mice, decreased hyperglycemia induced by injection of adrenalin,

glucose and alloxan without affecting the levels of blood sugar in untreated mice (Sui

et al., 1994).

Mukherjee et al. (1995) studied the effect of methanol extract of Nelumbo

nucifera on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and reported a decrease in glycemia.

The healthy rabbits were subjected to weekly subcutanaceous glucose tolerance test

after the gastric administration of water, tolbutamide or a traditional preparation of

Cuminum cyminum by Roman - Ramos et al. (1995). The results showed that the

gastric administration of C. cyminum significantly decreased the area under glucose

tolerance curve and the hyperglycemic peak.

Garg et al.(1997) reported that daily one time administration of the leaf juice

of Lantana camara, for 14 days in rats, resulted in an alterations in various

haematological and biochemical parameters. They observed that 1500 mg dose level

had a strong hypoglycemic effect. Noor and Asherof (1998) observed that Tinospora

crispa stimulated insulin release via modulation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration in

pancreatic beta-cells. Oral administration of aqueous extract of Tinospora cordifolia

roots produced a significant decrease in glycemia and brain lipids in alloxan induced

diabetic rats (Stanley et al., 1999).The ethanol extracts of bark and leaf of Thespesia

populnea were investigated for hypoglycemic effects in streptozotocin induced

diabetic rats and this was compared with glibenclamide, a standard hypoglycemic

agent; also measured the lipid peroxide, superoxide dismutase and catalase enzymes

31  

level in the kidney of the animal. The root and aerial part extracts of Sida cordifolia

showed hypoglycemic activity. Moreover, the methanol root extract significant

possessed hypoglycemic activity. Several plant species such as Opuntia

streptacantha, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Memordica charantia, Ficus

benghalensis, Polygala senega, Gymnema sylvestre, Allium sativum, Citrullus

colocynthis, and Aloe barbadensis were reported to possess hypoglycemic properties

(Atta-Ur-Rahman and Zaman, 1989; Ziyyat et al., 1997 and Bnouham et al., 2002).

Chattapadhyay (1999) reported that the leaf extract of Azadirachta indica

significantly blocked the inhibitory effect of serotonin on insulin secretion mediated

by glucose. Moreover, A. indica leaf extract was found to have the most potent blood

sugar lowering property followed by Catharanthus roseus, Gymnema sylvestre and

Ocimum sanctum (Chattapadhyay, 1993). Uma Devi et al. (2006) reported the

antidiabetic and hyperlipidaemic effects of Cassia auriculata in alloxan induced

diabetic rats. The methanol leaf extract of Costus pictus was investigated for its

antidiabetic effect in wistar albino rats by Jothivel et al. (2007). Pari et al. (2007)

investigated the insulin receptor-binding effect of Cassia auriculata flower extract in

streptozotocin induced diabetic male wistar rats.

The antidiabetic potentials of the whole plant petroleum ether, ethanol and

aqueous extracts of Phyllanthus fraternus was estimated in alloxan induced diabetic

albino rats (Garg et al., 2008). Noor et al. (2008) studied the antidiabetic activity of

Aloe vera in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and

ethanol extracts of Dendrophthoe falcata leaves were investigated for their

antidiabetic activity in alloxan induced diabetic rats by Tenpe et al. (2008). Adebayo

et al. (2009) demonstrated the antidiabetic properties of aqueous leaf extract of

Bougainvillea glabra on alloxan induced diabetic rats. Murugan and Reddy,. (2009)

32  

studied the antidiabetic and hypolipidaemic activity of Mucuna pruriens leaves in

alloxan induced diabetic rats. The antidiabetic effect of Artemisia judaica extract on

alloxan induced diabetic rats was studied by Nofal et al. (2009). Gurjar et al. (2010)

reported the antidiabetic activity of Anthocephalus cadamba bark in alloxan induced

diabetic rats. Kumar et al. (2010) studied the antidiabetic activity of Euphorbia hitra

stem, leaf and flower extracts against normal and streptozotocin induced diabetic rats.

Sharma et al. (2010) investigated the antidiabetic activity of Ficus glomerata in

alloxan induced diabetic rats. Maruthupandian and Mohan (2011) studied the

antidiabetic effects of ethanol wood and bark extracts and combined wood and bark

extracts of Pterocarpus marsupium in wistar albino rats. The ethanol leaf extract of

Senna auriculata was investigated for its antidiabetic and antihyperlipidaemic

activities in wistar albino rats by Shanmugasundaram et al. (2011). Alagammal et al.

(2012) investigated the effect of whole plant ethanol extract of Polygala chinensis for

its antidiabetic and antihyperlipidaemic effects in wistar albino rats. Kala et al. (2012)

reported the antidiabetic activity of Eugenia floccosa leaves in alloxan induced

diabetic rats. Manohar et al. (2012) studied the hypoglycemic and antihyperglyemic

effects of Moringa oleifera aqueous extract in normal and alloxan induced diabetic

rabbits. Potential antidiabetic effect of Nymphaea pubescens tuber extract, in alloxan

induced diabetic rats, was investigated by Shajeela et al. (2012).

Hepatoprotective activity

Ayurvedic and other traditional medical practitioners of the world have

claimed for centuries that extracts from plants can be effectively used for the

alleviation of different types of liver diseases (Subramaniam and Pushpangadan,

1999). Most of the claims are however, anecdotal and a very few have received

adequate medical or scientific evaluation. Except for the use of appropriate vaccine

33  

for the treatment of hepatitis caused by viral infection, a very few effective treatments

are available today to cure liver diseases. Therefore it is not surprising that a

considerable interest has been taken by researchers to examine their numerous

traditional plant remedies, used for treating liver disorders. In recent years,

investigations have been carried out to provide experimental evidences confirming

that many of these plants have hepatoprotective properties (Sharma et al., 2003).

Mondal et al. (2005) reported that methanol extract of Diospyros malabarica

bark had a potent hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride induced liver

damage in rats. Dash et al. (2007) reported that chloroform and methanol entire plant

extracts of Ichnocarpus frutescens served as effective hepatoprotective agents in

paracetamol induced liver damage in rats. Iniaghe et al. (2008) reported that the

aqueous leaf extract of Acalypha racemosa served as an effective hepatoprotective

agent against CCl4 induced liver damage. Abdul-Razik et al. (2009) studied the effect

of ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts and volatile oil of Juncus subulatus, in ethanol-

induced hepatic injury in female rats and showed that all extracts served as potential

hepatoprotective agents. Jain et al. (2009) compared the hepatoprotective potentials of

ethanol and aqueous extracts of Amorphophallus campanulatus tubers using carbon

tetrachloride induced hepatic damage in rats. This study revealed that the ethanol

extract was more hepatoprotective than the aqueous extract.

Aqueous extracts of seeds of Areca catechu and nutgalls of Quercus infectoria

were investigated for their hepatoprotective abilities against liver injury induced by

carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats (Pithayanukul et al., 2009). Tiwari and Khosa

(2009) evaluated the hepatoprotective effects of aqueous and methanol extracts of

flower heads of Sphaeranthus indicus, a traditional Indian medicinal plant commonly

34  

used to nourish and improve the liver conditions, on acetaminophen induced

hepatotoxicity in rats.

The methanol extracts of plant materials like Casuarina equisetifolia, Cajanus

cajan, Glycosmis pentaphylla, Bixa orellana, Argemone mexicana, Physalis minima

and Caesalpinia bonduc have been reported to exert hepatoprotective activity against

Swiss albino rats with liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). The

highest activity observed for methanol extract of B. orellana at a dose of 500mg/kg

body weight(b.wt) and the reduction of serum level of alanine aminotransferase

(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and cholesterol were 52.08 %, 57.37% and

52.90% respectively (Ahasan et al., 2009).

Hepatoprotective activity of water and alcoholic extracts of Luffa acutangula

against carbon tetrachloride and rifampicin-induced hepatotoxicity in rats was

evaluated by Jadhav et al. (2010). Shyamal et al. (2010) reported that ethanol root

extracts of Ixora coccinea, Rhinacanthus nastus and whole plant extract of Spilanthes

ciliata served as potential hepatoprotective agents in aflatoxin B1 intoxicated livers of

albino male wistar rats.

Reddy et al. (2010) studied the hepatoprotective activity of traditional

ayurvedic formulation “Vidakana Choornam” against carbon tetrachloride induced

hepatotoxicity in albino rats. Takate et al. (2010) evaluated the hepatoprotective

activity of ethyl acetate extract of aerial parts of Launaea intybacea in paracetamol-

induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats. Silymarin (200mg/kg) was given as reference

standard. The ethyl acetate extract of aerial parts of Launaea intybacea have shown

very significant hepatoprotection against paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in

albino rats in reducing serum total bilirubin, SALP, SGPT, SGOT levels and liver

homogenates LPO, SOD, CAT, GPx, GST and GSH levels.

35  

The leaves of Coccinia indica have been reported to possess hepatoprotective

activity against carbon tetrachloride induced liver toxicity in rats (Shyam kumar et al.,

2010). The results shown hepatoprotective activity of Coccinia indica leaves extract

at a dose of 400mg/kg body weight was comparable with standard treatment

125mg/kg body weight of silymarin, a known hepatoprotective drug. An ethanol

extract of stem of Anisochilus carnosus have been reported to possess

hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity in rats

(Venkatesh et al., 2011). The hepatoprotective effect of the extract was evaluated by

the assay of liver function biochemical parameters like Serum Glutamate Pyruvate

Transaminase (SGPT), Serum Glutamate Oxaloacetate Transaminase (SGOT),

Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Total Bilirubin and Total Protein.

The ethanol extract of Ficus benjamina have been reported to exert

hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in rats (Kanaujia et al.,

2011). The plant extract and isolated compound was effective in protecting the liver

against the injury induced by CCl4 in rats. This was evident from significant reduction

in serum enzyme SGPT, SGOT, ALP, serum bilirubin and liver weight.

Veena Rani et al. (2011) investigated the chloroform, alcohol and water

extracts of Bauhinia purpurea for its hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 induced

hepatotoxicity. Venkatalakshmi et al. (2011) evaluated the hepatoprotective activity

of Boerhavia diffusa against paracetamol induced hepatotoxi rats. Administration of

paracetamol (3g/kg. b.w.t.,) produced significant changes in the hepatocytes which

were reflected in the altered parameters such as, ALT, AST, GSH, Protein and serum

creatinine levels. Treatment with B. diffusa root extract (1g/kg. b.wt.) produced

remarkable changes and brought back the altered parameters to near normal,

proviving its hepatoprotective activity.

36  

Bhoomannavar et al. (2011) tested the ethanol and aqueous extract of leaves

of Neptunia oleracea for their efficacy against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced

hepatotoxicity in wistar albino rats. The phytochemical screening revealed the

presence of active phytoconstituents i.e. flavonoids, triterpenoids and tannins, which

may offer hepatoprotection. Suky et al. (2011) reported the hepatoprotective effect of

Balanites aeyptiace against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Rajalakshmi et al.

(2012) studied the efficacy of Andrographis paniculata, especially its major bioactive

compound-Andrographolide on paracetamol induced liver damage in rats with the

help of serum biochemical markers and histological studies.

Carica papaya leaves have been reported to possess hepatoprotective activity

against paracetamol induced hepatic damage in rats (Rajesh et al., 2012). The

substantially elevated serum levels of SGOT, SGPT, ALP, Total protein and Total

bilirubin were significantly restored by the leaf extract. Paracetamol intoxication

markedly decreased the level of reduced glutathione, SOD, catalase and glutathione

peroxidases which were significantly enhanced by Carica papaya leaf extract.

Bagban et al. (2012) investigated the hepatoprotective activity of the methanol

extract of Fagonia indica on CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats. The degree of

protection was determined by measuring levels of biochemical marker like SGOT,

SGPT, ALP, Bilirubin (Total & direct) and cholesterol.

Lalee et al. (2012) investigated the hepatoprotective effects of ethanol extract

of Aerva sanguinolenta by oral route to adult male wistar albino rats.

Hepatoprotective activity of ethanol extract of A. sanguinolenta leaves may be due to

the presence of polyphenolic compounds.

37  

Satyanarayanan et al. (2012) extracted the whole plant of Vigna munga using

petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol consecutively and the obtained extracts were

screened for hepatoprotective activity using CCl4 induced liver damage model. Datta

et al. (2013) evaluated the hepatoprotective activity of the methanol extract of

Cyperus articulates against paracetamol induced liver damage in rats.

Hepatoprotective activity was evaluated by the biochemical estimation of liver

function parameters (SGPT, SGOT, ALP, total protein and total bilirubin) and

antioxidant assays of liver homogenate (lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione

content, superoxide dismutase and catalase activity).

Antifertility

Recently, efforts are being made to explore the hidden wealth of medicinal

plants for contraceptive use. With the exciting prospects of gene therapy, herbal

medicines remain one of the commonest forms of therapy available for much of

world’s population to maintain health and to treat diseases.

There has been a steady accumulation of information regarding the screening

of plants having antifertility efficacy (Hanshaw, 1953; Chopra et al., 1956; Chopra et

al., 1958; Casey., 1960; Bhakuni et al., 1969 and Farnsworth et al., 1975a and

1975b). The folklore information and the ancient literature about the herbals can help

antifertility program. In the recent past, various researchers have done a number of

works on plants and isolated, identified and evaluated active principles from different

parts of plants such as root, stem, leaves, flowers, seeds or stem barks. These reports

have been exhaustively reviewed by Orzechowski (1972); Brondegaard (1973);

Kholkute et al. (1976); Kamboj and Dhawan (1982); Zhu (1982) and Satyawati

(1983). A literature survey for the period of past 25 years (1980-2005) revealed that

38  

there are about 105 plants possessing antifertility activity in males (Gupta and

Sharma, 2006).

Hadley et al. (1981) isolated gossypol, a yellow phenolic compound from

cotton seed oil and confirmed it as a male contraceptive drug. They found that

gossypol treatment reduced the level of serum testosterone and luteinizing hormone

levels. Gossypol acts directly on testes and induces azoospermia or oligospermia

(Xue, 1980; Xue, 1985 and Taitzoglou et al., 1999). A multi-glycoside extracted from

the root xylem of Tripterygium wilfordii was shown to have a reversible antifertility

action in male rats by Qian (1987) using Task-Force supported study. Its antifertility

activity was well documented in rats, mice and human (Qian, 1986; Qian et al., 1995).

Choudhary et al. (1991) studied antifertility effect of ethanol leaf extracts of

Alstonia scholaris, Cleistanthus collinus and Terminalia bellerica and root extract of

Murraya paniculata in male albino rats. Lohiya and Goyal (1992) administered

chloroform extract of Carica papaya seeds and showed a decrease in sperm count

and the suppression of cauda epididymal sperm motility in rats. They also suggested

that contraceptive effects were mainly post testicular in nature and without adverse

influence on the lipids’ profile of animals. Verma and Chinoy (2001) reported that the

Carica papaya seed extract altered cauda epididymal micro-environment.

Manivannan et al. (2004) observed the ultrastructural changes in the testes and

epididymis of rats following treatment with the chloroform extracts of the Carica

papaya seeds. Dehghan et al. (2006) reported that the Azadirachta indica seed extract

altered vas deferens and epididymal milieu and affected the spermatozoa. Thus the

extract served as a potential antifertility agent.

Gupta and Sharma (2006) summarized the fertility regulatory plants with part

used, type of extract/isolated compounds (active principles) along with animal model

39  

used. The traditional use of medicinal plants to treat different sorts of diseases,

including fertility related problems is widespread throughout the world as many plant

substances are known for their interferences with the male reproductive system. The

literature covered is of 25 years i.e. from 1980 to 2005 for 105 plants showing

antifertility activity in males.

Twenty five species of medicinal plants which are used by the local people in

kathiyavadi village, Vellore District, Tamilnadu, India, have been reported to exert an

antifertility activity (Sathiyaraj et al., 2012).

Citrus limonum seeds have been reported to possess reversible antifertility

effect on male albino rats (Kulkarni et al., 2012). Male albino rats were orally treated

with alcoholic extract and its fractions for 30 and 60 days. Then, testes and

epidadymis were removed and tested for sperm count, sperm motility, sperm

morphology and histo-pathological examination. Sperm counts were seen 90 days

after discontinuation of the treatment to see reversibility of effect.

Thangakrishnakumari et al. (2012) studied the antifertility effect of ethanol

extract of whole plant extract of Sarcostemma secamone in male albino rats. The

relative weight of the testes and epididymis were decreased. The epididymal sperm

count, motility and sperm abnormality were reduced significantly in treated rats. The

results of the hormonal assay showed that increased serum levels of FSH and estrogen

but decreased in the serum levels of LH and testosterone compared to control. The

results of fertility test indicated that the treated adult male rats reduced the number of

female’s impregnation.

Jain et al. (2012) evaluated anti-implantation and antiovulatory effect of

Tabernaemontana diavaricata leaves using different aspects of reproductive

40  

physiology in albino mice. Ethanol extract of T. diavaricata at 250mg/kg and

500mg/kg showed significant inhibition of number of implant sites. Extract at the

dose of 500mg/kg showed 66.66% inhibition of implants in uterine horns when

compared with vehicle treated group.

Priya et al. (2012) presented the profiles of plants with antifertility, reported in

the literature from 1994-2010. The profiles presented include information about the

scientific name, family, the degree of antifertility activity and the active agents.

Various medicinal plant extracts have been tested for their antifertility activity both in

male and female animal models. Totally 50 species are listed in this review.

Various medicinal plant extracts have been reported to exert antifertility

activity both in male and female animal models (Umadevi et al., 2013). Numerous

herbs have been used hotorically to reduce fertility, and modern scientific research

has confirmed antifertility effects in atleast some of the herbs tested. Herbal

contraception may never reach the level of contraceptive protection as the pill, but it

offers alternatives for women who have difficulty with modern contraceptive options

or who just want to try a different way.

Antiinflammatory activity

The term ‘rheumatism’ embraces a variety of disorders that have in common

pain and stiffness referable to the musculoskeletal system. When such symptoms are

due to abnormality of the joint itself, the condition can be classified as arthritis. Non-

articular rheumatism includes those conditions in which the symptoms are produced

not by pathologic changes in the joints proper, but in the structures contiguous to, or

related to the joints. Although arthritis occurs in a number of different forms, there are

essentially two fundamental pathological processes that affect the joints viz.,

41  

inflammation, which may be exudative or proliferative or a combination of each and

degenerative changes, which are primarily dependent on the limited capacity of

articular cartilage to repair itself (Loeb, 1971).The target should be to discover plant

based new drugs which may provide therapeutic cure and would be free from

undesirable effect as well as economical, which would be accepted by the developing

nations like India (Huang, 1999).

A systematic study of antiinflammatory effects of Indian medicinal plants

began by Gujral and his associates. They screened a number of plants for their anti-

arthritic effects. Subsequently, various workers from different laboratories in India

made significant contributions. In the sixties, formaldehyde induced arthritis and

croton oil induced granuloma pouch in rats were mainly used as the experimental

models of inflammation. Later, with the introduction of better and more specific

models of experimental inflammation like carrageenan induced paw edema in rats,

cotton pellet induced granuloma in rats, Freud’s complete adjuvant induced arthritis

etc., and workers in different laboratories tested their drugs with the help of the later

models. Scientists in Central drugs Research Institute, Lucknow studied nearly two

thousand Indian medicinal plants for their various pharmacological properties

(Chatterjee and Pal, 1984 and Shah et al., 2006). The greatest disadvantage in the

presently available potent synthetic antiinflammatory drugs lies in their toxicity and

reappearance of symptoms after discontinuation. Therefore, the search for their anti-

inflammatory activity (AIA) is an unending problem (Chawla et al., 1987 and Shen,

1981).

The oleoresin fraction of Commiphora mukul possessed significant anti-

arthritic and antiinflammatory activities. A steroidal compound isolated from C.mukul

displayed a significant dose dependent activity which was more potent than the resin

42  

fraction of C.mukul. A comparison between the antiinflammatory activities of

petroleum ether extract of C.mukul with standard drugs showed that the former to be

more effective. The ethyl acetate-soluble portion of the resin (guggalipid), on

fractionation, revealed that the acidic portion displayed a significant antiinflammatory

activity (Satyavati et al., 1969).

Hye and Gafur (1975) observed the antiinflammatory activity of a flavanoid

glycoside, chrysoeriol 7-0-β-D glucopyranosyl-D-apiofuranoside, isolated from

Dalbergia volubilis. Swarnalakshmi et al. (1981) isolated epicatechin from seed coat

of Anacardium occidentale and showed it an antiinflammatory agent, as effective as

phenylbutazone, using various test models. Bergenin was isolated from the pods of

Peltophorum pterocarpum and was found to be equipmental to phenylbutazone

against carrageenan induced edema in rats (Menon et al., 1982).

The petroleum ether extract of Curcuma longa rhizomes showed significant

antiinflammatory activity and was effective in delayed hypersensitivity. Curcumin,

chemically known as diferuloyl methane, a constituent of turmeric, was shown to be

effective by Srimal and Dhawan, (1973). It is as potent as phenylbutazone in the

carrageenan induced edema test but half as potent in chronic tests. Srivastava and

Srimal (1985) showed that curcumin was found to be a stabilizer of lysosomal

membrane (more potent than Ibuprofen) and as an uncoupler of oxidative

phosphorylation in sub-acute inflammation rat models. Two naturally occurring

curcumin related analogues, feruloyl – 4-hydroxycinnamoyl methane and bis (4-

hydroxy cinnamoyl) methane also showed AIA. Water soluble sodium curcuminate

showed better AIA than curcumin in albino rats. Delgado et al.(2001) isolated

dicadalenol, caryolane-1, 9β-diol and quercetin from aerial parts of Heterotheca

inuloides (Asteraceae) and displayed their dose dependent activities and showed them

43  

to be the most active substances tested. Quercetin, quercetin 3-0-rhamnoside

(quercitrin) and quercitrin 3-0-rutinoside (rutin) isolated from 80% MeOH leaf extract

of Morinda morindoides showed similar inhibition of classical pathway of

complement system (Kanyanga et al., 1995).

The dichloromethane extract of the aerial parts of Tanacetum microphyllum

yielded two anti-inflammatory flavonoids viz; 5,7,3’-trihydroxy-3,6,4’-trimethoxy

flavones (centaureidin) and 5,3’-dihydroxy-4’-methoxy-7-carbomethoxyflavonol

(Abad et al., 1993). Three flavonoids, namely 7-0-methylaromadendin, rhamnocitrin

and 3-O-acetylpadmatin along with a sesquiterpene lactone inuvisolide; a

sesquiterpene acid, silicic acid; and a diagalactosyl-diacylglycerol, inugalacolipid-A

were isolated from Inula viscosa dichloromethane extract by Manez et al. (1999) and

were shown to have 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate induced ear edema

inhibitory activity in mice.Flavonone, glycosides, diinsininol and diinsinin from the

rhizomes of Sacropthyta piriei (Balanophoraceae), showed prostaglandin synthesis

inhibition and inhibition of platelet activating factor-induced exocytosis, respectively.

Calophylolide isolated from the nuts of Calophyllum species effectively

reduced the increased permeability induced by the chemical mediators involved in

inflammation like histamine, serotonin and bradykinin. The triterpenoids of the

oleanene and ursene series were found to be active against carrageenan induced

edema, formaldehyde induced edema and formaldehyde induced arthritis in rats.

Bhargava et al. (1970) suggested that the antiinflammatory activity of the

triterpenoids of the oleanene series, with the polarity of compounds, were enhanced

by a number of hydroxyl groups in the molecule. Atal et al. (1980) observed the anti-

inflammatory and anti-arthritic activities of the oleogum of Boswellia serrate in

controlled clinical trials in arthritic patients.Its activity might be due to the boswellic

44  

acids present in the oleogum. Two new triterpene saponins having phospholipase-D

inhibitory activity were isolated from extract of the leaves of Myrsine australis.

Oleanolic acid 3-β-glucoside isolated from the seeds of Randia dumetorum showed a

significant AIA in the exudative and proliferative phases of inflammation in rats

(Ghosh and Kumar., 1983). Singh et al. (1970) isolated β-sitosterol from Cyperus

rotendus and showed it a potent anti-inflammatory agent against carrageenan and

cotton pellet-induced edema in rats. Gupta et al. (1971) compared the anti-pyretic

activities of hydrocortisone and oxyphenbutazone. Α-spinasterol obtained from the

stem-bark of Symplocos spicata showed a significant activity against acute

inflammation induced by carrageenan in rats.

Tylophorine, an alkaloid isolated from Tylophora indica, apart from the

anaphylactic and immunocytoadherence actions significantly inhibited the primary

and secondary responses of adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats (Gopalakrishnan et al.,

1979). The alcoholic extract of Cardiospermum halicacabum leaves showed a

significant antiinflammatory activity in rats. The stem bark of Cedrus deodora

possessed a significant AIA in rat (Gopala et al., 1976). Gangetin, one of the

pterocarpens, isolated from hexane extract of Desmodium gangeticum root also

produced a significant AIA in the exudative and proliferative phases of inflammation

in rats (Ghosh and Kumar, 1983). Radiological findings by Hazeena Begum and

Sadique (1988) evidently supported the anti-arthritic property of Withania somnifera.

Handa et al. (1992) cited that species of 96 genera belonging to 56 families

possessed antiinflammatory activities. The triterpenes, alpha-amyrin acetate, beta-

amyrin acetate and lupeol acetate of Alstonia boonei were evaluated for their anti-

arthritic activities in rats by Kweifio-Okai and Carroll (1992 and 1993). The anti-

inflammatory activity of the aqueous extract of Bridelia ferrugiana stem bark was

45  

evaluated using carrageenan induced paw edema in rats and mice (Olajide et al.,

1999). Suleyman et al. (1999) studied the antiinflammatory activity of the aqueous

extracts of Rumex patientia roots using carrageenan, histamine, dextrane, serotonin

and formaldehyde induced edema tests. The alcoholic extract of Clerodendron

serratum roots was evaluated for its antiinflammatory activity using animal models

(Narayanan et al., 1999).

The analgesic and antiinflammatory properties of lyophilized aqueous extract

of Opuntia dillenii fruits were demonstrated by Loro et al. (1999) in rats and mice.

The aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Tecoma sambucifolia flowers and pods were

analyzed to determine their anti-inflammatory activities using carrageenan induced

edema test (Alguacil et al., 2000). Stephania tetrandrae, a traditional medicinal plant

to treat inflammatory diseases in Korea, possessed two major alkaloids namely

fangchinoline and tetraandrine. Choi et al. (2000) isolated fangchinoline and

tetraandrine and showed their antiinflammatory potentialities of using animal models.

The dried leaf methanol extract of Alstonia macrophylla was investigated for

its antiinflammatory activity in carrageenan induced rat paw edema (Arunachalam et

al., 2002). Antiinflammatory activity of ethanol extract of Bouchea fluminensis leaves

was demonstrated by Delaporte et al. (2002). Hajhashemi et al. (2002) studied the

anti-inflammatory activities of polyphenolic fraction of hydro alcoholic extract and

essential oil of the aerial parts of Satureja hortensis, an important Iranian folk

medicinal plant used as muscle and bone pain reliever, using carrageenan induced

paw edema in rats. The crude ethanol extract and the chloroform and aqueous

fractions of Sideritis canariensis var. pannosa were examined for their

antiinflammatory and analgesic effects using several animal models (Hernandez-Perez

and Rabanal, 2002).The ethanol rhizome extract of Cistanche deserticola was

46  

evaluated for its antiinflammatory activity (Lin et al., 2002). The hexane, chloroform

and methanol leaf and bark extracts of Aristolochia trilobata and Syngonium

podophyllum, leaves of Hamelia patens and Piper amalago and barks of Bursera

simaruba were evaluated for their antiinflammatory activities by Sosa et al. (2002).

Mitragyna ciliata, a widely used traditional medicinal plant to treat inflammation,

hypertension, head ache, rheumatism, gonorrhoea and bronchial-pulmonary diseases

was investigated by Dongno et al. (2003) for its antiinflammatory and analgesic

properties using the hexane and methanol extracts of the stem bark. Laupattarakasem

et al. (2003) studied the antiinflammatory activities of aqueous and alcoholic extracts

of the leaves of the Acanthus ebracteatus, stem bark of Oroxylum indicum and the

stems of Cryptolepis buchanani and Derris scandens, the medicinal plants used to

treat arthritis traditionally by the people of Thailand, using three different in vitro

systems. Li et al. (2003) evaluated the antiinflammatory activities of ethanol extracts

of 9 vine plants used in the traditional Chinese medicine to treat inflammatory

conditions. Matu and Vanstaden (2003) evaluated the antiinflammatory activities of

aqueous, hexane and methanol extracts of 12 medicinal plant species, traditionally

used in Kenya. The methanol extract of Clerodendrum petasites was assessed by

Panthong et al. (2003) for antiinflammatory and antipyretic activities using

experimental animals. They found that the extract possessed moderate inhibitory

activity on acute phase of inflammation.The methanol-water extract of Barleria

prionitis was evaluated for its antiinflammatory and antiarthritic activities against

different acute and chronic animal test models (Singh et al., 2003). The

antiinflammatory activity of the alcoholic stem extract of Tabernaemontana

pandacaqui was studied using carrageenan induced rat paw edema (Taesotikul et al.,

2003). Trongsakul et al. (2003) conducted pharmacological studies using

47  

experimental animal models and evaluated the analgesic, anti-pyretic and

antiinflammatory activities of hexane extract of the dried stem of Diospyros

variegata.

Deb et al. (2007) investigated the antiinflammatory activityof the aqueous leaf

extract of Eucalyptus globulus in carrageenan induced paw edema and cotton pellet

granuloma technique in albino rats. The petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, ethanol and

aqueous leaf extracts of Calotropis gigantea were screened by Patil et al. (2007) for

their antiarthritic activities in albino rats.The petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol

and aqueous extracts of Sesbania sesban leaves were investigated for their anti-

inflammatory activities in albino rats (Tatiya et al., 2007). The bark extract of

Xeromphis spinosa using a mixture of equal proportions of petroleum ether, ethyl

acetate and methanol was analyzed for its antiinflammatory activity by Das et al.

(2009). It exhibited a significant result at an oral dose of 200 and 400 mg/Kg body

weight.

The ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Syzygium cumini leaves were

investigated for their antiinflammatory activities in carrageenan induced paw edema

in Wistar rats (Jain et al., 2010). Parthasarathy (2010) studied the antiinflammatory

activity of whole plant methanol extract of Spermacoce hispida. using carrageenan

induced paw edema albino rats, Rajesh et al. (2010) investigated the antiinflammatory

activity of the petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol and water leaf

extracts of Salvadora persica in albino rats. The methanol root bark and stem bark

extracts of Pittosporum tetraspermum were investigated for their antiinflammatory

activities by Rosakutty et al. (2010) in carrageenan induced paw edema in albino rats.

Sutha et al. (2011) screened the ethanol leaf extract of Alstonia venenata for its

antiinflammatory activity in carrageenan induced paw edema in albino rats. The

48  

whole plant ethanol extracts of Polygala javana and Polygala rosmarinifolia were

evaluated for their antiinflammatory activities using carrageenan induced paw edema

by Alagammal et al. (2012a and 2012b). Balamurugan et al. (2012) reported the

antiinflammatory activity of Polycarpea corymbosa against carrageenan induced paw

edema. Kalpanadevi et al. (2012) studied the ethanol extract of Entada pursaetha seed

for its antiinflammatory activity in carrageenan induced paw edema in albino rats.

The ethanol leaf and stem bark extracts of Naringi crenulata were evaluated for their

antiinflammatory activities using carrageenan induced paw edema by Sarada et al.

(2012).

Antiulcer activity

Afifi et al. (1997) investigated the antiulcerogenic activity of Laurus nobilis

seeds on experimentally induced gastric ulcer in rats. Pascual et al. (2001) studied the

antiulcerogenic activity of Lippia alba on the rat gastric mucosa. The following

behavourial parameters were evaluated; (a) gastric irritancy test in wistar rats;(b)

antiulcer activity, short term and long term; (c) acid secretion; (d) measurement of

total proteins; (e) estimation of total protein bound and non protein sulfhydryl groups.

Raintidine (100mg/kg, P.O.) was used as the reference antiulcer drug.

Mahendran et al. (2002) investigated the antiulcer activity of Garcinia

cambogia extract against indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats. Sousa Falcao et

al. (2008) evaluated numerous natural products as therapeutics for the treatment of a

variety of diseases, including ulcer. Muniappan and Sundararaj (2003) studied the

antiulcer activity of the methanol extract of the leaf of Bambusa arundinacea in

albino rats.

49  

Govindarajan et al. (2006) studied the gastroprotective potential of the

Anogeissus latifolia extract (ALE) on aspirin, cold-resistant stress (CRS), pylorus

ligated (PL) and ethanol-induced ulcers. High performance thin layer chromatography

(HPTLC) showed the presence of gallic acid and ellagic acid in the plant. Malairajan

et al. (2007) evaluated the antiulcer activity of ethanol extract of Toona ciliata

heartwood against aspirin plus pylorus ligation induced gastric ulcer (antisecretory),

HCL-ethanol induced ulcer (cytoprotective) and water immersion stress induced ulcer

in rats.

Muralidharan and Srikanth,. (2009) investigated the antiulcer activity of ethyl

extract of the fruits of Morinda citrifolia using different models of gastric and

duodenal ulceration in rats. Gastric ulcers were induced by oral administration of

ethanol, aspirin and by pyloric ligation and duodenal ulcers were induced by oral

administration of cysteamine HCL. Thirunavukkarasu et al. (2009) determined the

gastroprotective effect of Excoecaria agallocha bark in a model of NSAID induced

ulcer rat. The E.agallocha was able to decrease the volume and acidity of the gastric

juice and increase the mucosal defense in the gastric areas, thereby justifying its use

as an antiulcerogenic agent.

Khandare et al. (2009) evaluated the antiulcer activity of polyherbal

formulation (PHF) by using two methods. i.e., pylorus ligation and ethanol induced

ulcers in rats pretreated with the doses of 1ml/kg absolute ethanol, 100mg/kg PHF,

50mg/kg Ranitidine. PHF significantly (P<0.05) decreased free-acidity, total acidity,

ulcer index and gastric volume and significantly (P<0.05) increased the pH in pylorus

ligated model whereas ulcer index significantly (P< 0.05) decreased in ethanol

induced model.

50  

Mukherjee et al. (2010) determined the antiulcer potential of Gutgard TM, a

standardized extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra commonly known as licorice in pylorus

ligation, cold-restraint stress and indomethacin induced gastric mucosal injury in rats.

Rasika et al. (2010) investigated the antiulcer effect of ethanol extract of leaves of

Sesbania gradiflora using models of pylorus-ligated gastric ulceration in rats.

Omeprazole, ranitidine, misoprostol were used as reference drug. Vinothapooshan et

al. (2010) investigated the effect of methanol, chloroform and diethyl ether extracts of

Mimosa pudica in rats to evaluate the antiulcer activity by using three models, i.e.,

aspirin, alcohol and pylorus ligation models experimentally induced gastric ulcer.

Nair et al. (2010) evaluated the antiulcer efficacy of the polyherbal

formulation NR-ANX-C (composed of the extracts from Withania somnifera,

Camellia sinensis, Ocimum sanctum, shilajith and triphala) with potent antioxidant

activity in aspirin and pylorus ligature induced gastric ulcers in rats. Govind et al.

(2010) evaluated the antiulcer activity of methanol extract of leaf of Nerium indicum

in indomethacin induced ulcer model.

Dashputre et al. (2011) investigated the antiulcer activity of methanol extract

of Abutilon indicum leaves in pylorus ligated and ethanol induced ulceration in the

albino rats. In pylorus ligation induced ulcer model, various parameters were studied

viz, gastric volume, pH, total acidity, free acidity and ulcer index. Prabha et al. (2011)

investigated the anti-ulcerogenic activity of Musa sapientum on peptic ulcer by

performing hematological, mucosal, antioxidant profile in comparison with the

standard drug omeperazole. The High-Performance Thin Layer chromatography

(HPTLC) analysis showed that Musa sapientum has an active compound, amonomeric

flavonoid (Leucocyanidin) with anti-ulcerogenic activity.

51  

Srinivas et al. (2011) evaluated the ethanol extract of flowers of Ixora pavetta

for the antiulcer activity by aspirin induced and pylorus ligation of rats. The extract

significantly decreased the gastric secretion, free acidity as well as gastric ulcer in the

aspirin induced and pylorus ligated rats and the effects were compared with

omeprazole.Venkat Rao et al. (2011) evaluated the antiulcer activity of ethanol and

water extracts of fruit of Momordica charantia in various animal models like pylorus

ligation, aspirin, stress induced ulcer models in rats and the activities are due to the

presence of phytochemical constituents such as saponins, sterols, mucilage, glycoside,

alkaloids, steroidal saponins as these phytochemical constituents were already

reported for the above mentioned effects.

Kakasaheb et al. (2011) studied the antiulcer activity of aqueous extract of

Spinacia oleracia in rats in which gastric ulcer were induced by oral administration of

ethanol or aspirin or by pyloric ligation. Ranitidine and Sucralfate were used as

reference drug. Kalra et al. (2011) studied the methanol extract of the seed coat of

Tamarindus indica to evaluate its antiulcer potential on ibuprofen, alcohol and pyloric

ligation induced gastric lesions. Ranitidine at a dose of 50 mg/kg was used as a

standard drug for these gastric ulcer models. Balekar et al. (2011) investigated the

antiulcer effect of whole plant extract of Malvastrum tricuspidatum on ethanol

induced, aspirin induced, cold-restraint-stress and pylorus-ligation induced gastric

ulcer models in rats. The ethanol extract of M. tricuspidatum showed concomitant

attenuation of gastric secretory volume, free acidity, total acidity and peptic activity in

ulcerated rats.

Vimlesh et al. (2012) investigated the antiulcer activity of ethanol and

chloroform extracts of Plumeria rubra leaves in pylorus ligated and ethanol induced

ulceration in the albino rats. Panda and Sonkamble (2012) studied the antiulcer

52  

activity of methanol extract of Ipomoea batatus tubers at two doses, viz., 400 and 800

mg/kg in cold stress and aspirin induced gastric ulcer models using cimetidine and

omeprazole respectively as standards.