Phytochemical and Antiulcer potential of Ethanolic leaf extract of Heliotropium indicum Linn.

Abstract

In the present study Phytochemical, Pharmacological studies were performed. Heliotropium indicum Linn. belongs to family Boraginaceae and commonly known as Leihenbi, Hatisur, devil weed. The leaves have been used as asthma, urticaria, amenorrhea, high blood pressure, fevers, ulcers, and cough etc. The present study includes ethanolic leaves extract of Heliotropium indicum Linn. were investigated for phytochemical screening. The leaves of Heliotropium indicum Linn. were collected from different part of Meghalaya and Assam and cut into small pieces and shade dried. The dried powdered leaves (100gm) were extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus by using different solvent by increasing polarity order. Phytochemical screening has been done by standard procedure and showed the presence of alkaloids, glycoside, carbohydrate, flavonoids, and saponins. Gastric ulcer is one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorders, which affects approximately 5-10% of people during their life. In recent years, abundant work has been carried out on herbal medicine to clarify their potential efficacy in gastric ulcer prevention or management. Here, the present study was carried out to investigate the antiulcer activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Heliotropium indicum Linn. in aspirin plus pylorus ligated ulceration in the albino rats. Two dose levels of the extracts i.e. 250 and 500mg/kg were selected for the further study. In Aspirin plus pylorus ligation induced ulcer model, various parameters were studied viz. gastric volume, pH, total acidity, free acidity, and ulcer index. Ranitidine at 50mg/kg was used as the standard drug. Pre-treatment of ethanol extract of Heliotropium indicum Linn. leaves showed a significant decrease in the gastric volume, total acidity, and free acidity. However, pH of the gastric juice was significantly increased only at a higher dose, 500 mg/kg. It showed also a significant decrease in a number of ulcers and ulcer score index in aspirin plus pylorus ligation induced ulceration models. The ethanol extract of Heliotropium indicum Linn. leaves possess significant antiulcer properties in a dose dependent manner. In conclusion, the antiulcer properties of the extract may be attributed to the presence of phytochemicals like flavonoids, alkaloids and tannins present in the plant extract with various biological activities. Present work justifies the traditional use of Heliotropium indicum Linn. in treatment of the diverse condition and also indicated its future importance as therapeutic substances.