Antioxidative and animal model-based pharmacological properties evaluation of leaves of Trema cannabina Lour.

Abstract

Medicinal plants are of great importance since they exert beneficial pharmacological effects. In this study, phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Trema (T.) cannabina Lour (family Cannabaceae) revealed the presence of carbohydrate, alkaloids, steroid, tannin and absence of gum, saponins, glycosides. Herein, a series of investigations were conducted with the extract to confirm the antioxidative, analgesic, antidiarrhoeal, and antimicrobial properties. T. cannabina extract showed antioxidant activity, both qualitatively and quantitatively. It displayed free radical scavenging activity in the 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay (IC50 = ≈201 µg/mL) which is comparable to that of ascorbic acid (IC50 = ≈13 µg/mL), a well-known standard antioxidant. Further, 250 and 500 mg/kg of the extract exhibited 28.95% (p=0.07) and 40.79% (p<0.02) inhibition of writhing reflex, respectively compared to the standard drug diclofenac (25 mg/kg, inhibition of writhing reflex 69.74%) in mice. In addition, we found significantly reduced number of stools with the extract at these doses (p<0.001) compared to the standard drug loperamide (3 mg/kg, p<0.001) in the castor oil-induced diarrhoeal mice. Interestingly, the extract (500µg/disc) suggested credible antibacterial properties against the bacterial strains; Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Shigella dysenteriae, Vibrio cholera and no activity against Escherichia coli, Shigella boydii, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Proteus mirabilis. For the comparison of antimicrobial properties, standard antibiotic discs of Kanamycin were used. Collectively, the obtained results provide compelling evidence for the role of T. cannabina in exerting antioxidant, analagesic, antidiarrhoeal, and antimicrobial effects, which rationale the use of this plant in traditional medicine. However, further investigations are required to confirm these effects at molecular level.