The present study was evaluated the in vivo diuretic activity of fractional extracts of A. remota in albino mice. The dried aqueous crude extracts were subjected to soxhlet extraction by n-butanol, methanol and water solvents. The mice were randomly divided into eleven groups with 8 mice in each. All fractions were administered orally at doses of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg to adult male mice, and the positive and negative controls were treated with furosemide (10 mg/kg, p.o) and the vehicle distilled water (2 ml/100 gm of body weight) respectively. The diuretic effect of the extracts was evaluated by measuring urine volume, urinary electrolytes and urinary pH. The result indicates that aqueous and methanolic fractions at 1000 mg/kg dose produced significant (p<0.001) increase in urine output and electrolyte excretion (p<0.001) when compared to control. Additionally, potassium sparing activity (27%, p<0.05) and high natriuretic index (2.7-3.03) were produced by the n-butanol fraction relatively even if it showed minimal effect on urine output. Therefore, from the present study it may be concluded that the compounds present in methanolic and aqueous fraction are responsible for diuretic activity. This finding together with previous results on the aqueous crude extracts provides a quantitative basis for developing a new diuretic medicine from A. remota plant.

Objective: In the attempt of searching for potential plant derived antimalarial medicines, the aim of the present study was to examine In vivo antimalarial efficacy of crude ethanol extracts of the leaves of Croton macrostachyus, Ruta chalepensis and Vernonia amygdalina using chloroquine (CQ) sensitive strains of Plasmodium berghei in Swiss albino mice. Methods: To ascertain the safety level of the plant materials, crude extracts underwent oral acute toxicity assessments whereby mice received up to a single dose of 3000 mg/kg. Peter's four day standard antimalarial suppressive test was carried out to determine growth inhibition of parasitemia at tested doses of 400, 600, and 800 mg/kg of the extracts. Survival time of experimental mice and preliminary phytochemical screenings of the extracts were also done according to the standard procedures. Results: Extracts of the plant materials did not produce severe acute toxic effects in mice that received up to 3000 mg/kg in a single dose. Although complete clearance was not recorded, extracts of the plant materials produced dose dependent suppression of the parasitemia. The highest growth inhibition recorded was by extract of V. amygdalina (61.44%) followed by C. macrostachyus (59.3%) at 800 mg/kg of tested doses. Whereas, complete parasitemia clearance was attributed in mice treated with 25 mg/kg of CQ. In addition, survival time of experimental mice was recorded and the result showed mice treated with the extracts lived longer than the corresponding negative controls. The phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed the presence of antimalarial active constituents such as alkaloids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, phenols, and tannins. Conclusion:The present study, therefore, suggests that crude ethanol extracts of C. macrostachyus, R. chalepensis, and V. amygdalina are safe and rich with active secondary metabolites which have promising antimalarial effects.

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the development of alternative medicines for maintaining glucose homeostasis in diabetes, specifically by screening plant extracts as well as their isolated compounds for their ability to delay or prevent glucose metabolism and absorption. The objective of present study was to evaluate the in-vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of standardized extract of Aloe vera. In this study, we standardized ethanolic extracts of Aloe vera by using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and UV-Visible spectroscopy and then standardized extract was selected for in-vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory assay. Standardized ethanolic extract of Aloe vera showed concentration dependent inhibition of αglucosidase varying from 13.96±0.67 to 76.10%±0.84 % for 100 to 1000 µg/mL, respectively. The IC50 values for Aloe vera extract and acarbose were found as 530±7.18 and 265±5.31 µg/ mL, respectively. The present study indicated the potential of Aloe vera to prevent postprandial hyperglycemia by inhibition of α-glucosidase enzyme.

Introduction: In the era of multidrug resistant Plasmodium parasites, the management and control of malaria infection become complicated. Therefore, Alternative but effective plant based antimalarial treatments need to be discovered. In the search for potential antimalarial medicines, the present study tried to examine In-vivo efficacy evaluation of ethanol crude extracts of Croton macrostachyus, Ruta chalepensis, and Vernonia amygdalina against Plasmodium berghei in Swiss albino mice. Methods: Oral acute toxicity assessment of the extracts was done in mice received up to 3000 mg/kg of dosage to see safety level of the plant materials. The standard 4-days antimalarial suppressive test was also employed to determine growth inhibition of parasitaemia at doses of 400, 600, and 800 mg/kg of the extracts. In addition, preliminary phytochemical screenings of the extracts were also carried out according to the standard procedures. Results: Extracts of the plant materials did not produce serious acute toxic effects on mice received up to a single dose of 3000 mg/kg. Although complete clearance was not recorded, extracts of the plant materials produced dose dependent suppression of the parasitaemia. The highest growth inhibition recorded was by extract of V. amygdalina (61.44%) followed by C. macrostachyus (59.3%) at 800 mg/kg of tested doses. Whereas, complete parasitaemia clearance was attributed in mice which got 25 mg/kg of Chloroquine (CQ). In addition, survival time of experimental mice was recorded and the finding revealed mice treated with the extracts lived longer than the negative control groups. The phytochemical screening of the crude extracts was also carried out and revealed the presence of antimalarial active constituents such as alkaloids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, phenols, and tannins. Conclusion: The present study therefore, confirms ethanol crude extracts of C. macrostachyus, R. chalepensis, and V. amygdalina are safe and rich with active secondary metabolites which have promising antimalarial effects.

No abstract