Abstract
<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The present study was conducted to test for <em>in vivo</em> Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA) of <em>Abrus precarious</em><em> </em>leaves and root extracts after successive maceration in four solvents (n-hexane, dichloromethane (DCM) ethyl acetate and methanol) and correlate cytotoxicity results with known pharmacological activities of the plant.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Cytotoxicity was evaluated in terms of LC<sub>50</sub> (lethality concentration), 10 nauplii were added into three replicates of each concentration of the plant extracts, and after 24 h the surviving brine shrimp larvae were counted, and LC<sub>50</sub> was assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Potent cytotoxicity was found for both the leaves and root extracts of <em>Abrus precatorius</em>, results showed a concentration dependent increment in mortality rate of the brine shrimp nauplii and the n-hexane and dichloromethane fractions of the root and leaves extracts were more potent against the brine shrimp with LC<sub>50</sub> values of 7.870 ppm and 19.135 ppm (µg/ml) respectively, whereas methanol fractions of both the extracts exhibited low potent activity with LC<sub>50</sub> values 61.575 ppm and 226.053 ppm (µg/ml) in root and leaves respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The result indicated bioactive components are present in this plant that could be accounted for its pharmacological effects.</p>
Highlights
In vivo lethality in a simple zoological organism can be used as a convenient monitor for screening and fractionation in the discovery and monitoring of bioactive natural product, it is a general assay and capable of detecting various bioactivity present in crude extracts of medicinal plants [1] and has been used as an indicator for general toxicity and as a guide for the detection of antitumor and pesticidal compounds [2, 3]
Since its introduction by Meyer et al [3], it is noted as a useful tool for the isolation of bioactive compounds [4,5,6] and toxic compounds [2, 7] from plant extract, as well as used successfully for the bioassay-guided isolation of active antitumor and cytotoxic agent’s trilobacin from the bark of Asimina tribola [2]
Some traditional medicine involves using crude plant extract which may contain an extensive diversity of molecules often with indefinite biological effects [10], it is obvious that some negative results obtained with the use of local plants as sources of medicine or drugs are basically due to over-dosage and lack of adequate knowledge of other detrimental by-products contained in some plants [11] and most of the available information regarding the medicinal potential of these plants are not provided with credible scientific data
Summary
In vivo lethality in a simple zoological organism (brine shrimp) can be used as a convenient monitor for screening and fractionation in the discovery and monitoring of bioactive natural product, it is a general assay and capable of detecting various bioactivity present in crude extracts of medicinal plants [1] and has been used as an indicator for general toxicity and as a guide for the detection of antitumor and pesticidal compounds [2, 3]. It was reported to protect the liver against CCl4 induced liver damage in rats [13] among other uses ; this work is designed to investigate the cytotoxic activity of A. precatorius leaves and root extracts in different solvents (n-hexane, dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate and methanol).
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