METHODOLOGY: Qualitative phytochemical analysis was firstly carried out to determine the possible active compounds in P. betle leaves methanolic extract. The antibacterial activities of major compounds from this extract against nine fish pathogenic bacteria were then assessed using TLC-bioautography agar overlay assay and their quantity were determined simultaneously by HPLC method.
RESULTS: The use of methanol has proved to be successful in extracting numerous bioactive compounds including antibacterial compounds. The TLC-bioautography assay revealed the inhibitory action of two compounds which were identified as hydroxychavicol and eugenol. The $-caryophyllene however was totally inactive against all the tested bacterial species. In this study, the concentration of hydroxychavicol in extract was found to be 374.72±2.79 mg g-1, while eugenol was 49.67±0.16 mg g-1.
CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, it could be concluded that hydroxychavicol and eugenol were the responsible compounds for the promising antibacterial activity of P. betle leaves methanolic extract. This inhibitory action has significantly correlated with the amount of the compounds in extract. Due to its potential, the extract of P. betle leaves or it compounds can be alternative source of potent natural antibacterial agents for aquaculture disease management.
RESULTS: Oral administration of crude extract at the highest dose of 5000 mg/kg resulted in no mortalities or evidence of adverse effects, implying that C. fistula in nontoxic. Throughout 14 days of the treatment no changes in behavioural pattern, clinical sign and body weight of mice in both control and treatment groups. Also there were no any significant elevations observed in the biochemical analysis of the blood serum. Further, histopathological examination revealed normal architecture and no significant adverse effects observed on the kidney, heart, liver, lung and spleen.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results suggest that, the oral administration of C. fistula methanolic seeds extract did not produce any significant toxic effect in mice. Hence, the extract can be utilized for pharmaceutical formulations.
METHODS: The phytochemical and biological criteria of A. zerumbet were in vitro investigated as well as in mouse xenograft model.
RESULTS: A. zerumbet extracts, specially CH2Cl2 and MeOH extracts, exhibited the highest potent anti-tumor activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. The most active CH2Cl2 extract was subjected to bioassay-guided fractionation leading to isolatation of the naturally occurring 5,6-dehydrokawain (DK) which was characterized by IR, MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. A. zerumbet extracts, specially MeOH and CH2Cl2 extracts, exhibited significant inhibitory activity towards tumor volume (TV). Furthermore, A. zerumbet extracts declined the high level of malonaldehyde (MDA) as well as elevated the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in liver tissue homogenate. Moreover, DK showed anti-proliferative action on different human cancer cell lines. The recorded IC50 values against breast carcinoma (MCF-7), liver carcinoma (Hep-G2) and larynx carcinoma cells (HEP-2) were 3.08, 6.8, and 8.7 µg/mL, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Taken together, these findings open the door for further investigations in order to explore the potential medicinal properties of A. zerumbet.