Antioxidant and gastroprotective activities of aqueous and ethanolic extract of Andrographis paniculata leaves in rats have been reported. Sprague Dawley rats, 6 per group were used and rats in groups 1 to 6 were pretreated with (0.25% w/v) carboxymethyl cellulose (negative control, 5 ml/kg), 20 mg/kg omeprazole (positive control), (250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg) of aqueous leaf extracts (APLAE) and (250 and 500 mg/kg) of ethanol leaf extracts (APLEE) respectively. Animals were orally administered with 95% ethanol (5 ml/kg) 60 min after their pretreatments. Rats were sacrificed 1 h after treatment and gastric contents were collected to measure pH and mucous weight. Stomach was analyzed for gross and histological changes. Ulcer control group showed extensive lesions of gastric mucosal layer, whereas rats pretreated with omeprazole, 250 and 500 mg/kg of APLAE showed significant and dose dependent reduction in gastric lesions with increased pH and mucus content of stomach. Rats pretreated with 250 or 500 mg/kg of APLEE showed significantly better inhibition of gastric mucosal lesions. Further, the in vitro antioxidant studies using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay showed that ethanol extracts have superior free radical scavenging activity with IC50 value = 10.9 than aqueous extracts with IC50 value = 24.65. Results of this study showed that pretreatment with ethonolic extract of A. paniculata ethanolic provided significant protection against gastric ulcer by regulating of pH, mucous production and antioxidant property.
Canine dirofilariasis is a common tropical parasitic disease of companion animals, caused by infestation of Dirofilaria immitis filarids within the pulmonary arteries and extending into the right heart. Increased reports of adverse reactions elicited by current microfilaricidal agents against D. immitis such as neurological disorders, circulatory collapse and potential resistance against these agents, warrant the search for new agents in forms of plant extracts. The use of plant extracts in therapeutic medicine is commonly met with scepticism by the veterinary community, thus the lack of focus on its medical potential. This study evaluated the presence of microfilaricidal activities of the aqueous extracts of Zingiber officinale, Andrographis paniculata and Tinospora crispa Miers on D. immitisin vitro at different concentrations; 10mg/ml, 1mg/ml, 100 microg/ml, 10 microg/ml and 1 microg/ml within 24h, by evaluation of relative microfilarial motility as a measure of microfilaricidal activity. All extracts showed microfilaricidal activity with Z. officinale exhibiting the strongest activity overall, followed by A. paniculata and T. crispa Miers. It is speculated that the microfilaricidal mechanism exhibited by these extracts is via spastic paralysis based upon direct observation of the microfilarial motility.
The growth inhibiting potential of andrographolide was evaluated in three acute promyelocytic leukaemia cell line models (HL-60, NB4 and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-resistant NB4-R2).