OBJECTIVE:Ficus deltoidea leaves have been used in traditional medicine in Southeast Asia to treat diabetes, inflammation, diarrhea, and infections. The present study was conducted to assess the genotoxicity and acute and subchronic toxicity of a standardized methanol extract of F. deltoidea leaves.METHODS:Sprague Dawley rats were orally treated with five different single doses of the extract and screened for signs of toxicity for two weeks after administration. In the subchronic study, three different doses of the extract were administered for 28 days. Mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes, hematological and biochemical parameters, gross findings, organ weights, and histological parameters were monitored during the study. Genotoxicity was assessed using the Ames test with the TA98 and TA100 Salmonella typhimurium strains. Phytochemical standardization was performed using a colorimeter and high-performance liquid chromatography. Heavy metal detection was performed using an atomic absorption spectrometer.RESULTS:The acute toxicity study showed that the LD50 of the extract was greater than 5000 mg/kg. In the subchronic toxicity study, there were no significant adverse effects on food consumption, body weight, organ weights, mortality, clinical chemistry, hematology, gross pathology, or histopathology. However, a dose-dependent increase in the serum urea level was observed. The Ames test revealed that the extract did not have any potential to induce gene mutations in S. typhimurium, either in the presence or absence of S9 activation. Phytochemical analysis of the extract revealed high contents of phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed high levels of vitexin and isovitexin in the extract, and the levels of heavy metals were below the toxic levels.CONCLUSION:The no-observed adverse effect level of F. deltoidea in rats was determined to be 2500 mg/kg.

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BackgroundRecently, there has been increasing interest in Ficus deltoidea Jack. (Moraceae) due to its chemical composition and the potential health benefits. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of extracts of F. deltoidea leaves on diabetes.MethodsThe petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol extracts of F. deltoidea were prepared and subjected to standardization using preliminary phytochemical and HPLC analysis. Dose selection was made on the basis of acute oral toxicity study (50–5000 mg/kg b. w.) as per OECD guidelines. Diabetes mellitus was induced with streptozotocin and rats found diabetic were orally administered with the extract (250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg) for 14 days. Levels of blood glucose and insulin were measured in control as well as diabetic rats on 0, 7 and 14th day. In addition, glucose metabolism regulating gene expression was assessed using RT-PCR.ResultsHPLC analysis revealed that the methanol extract is enriched with C-glycosylflavones particularly, vitexin and isovitexin. In oral glucose tolerance test, oral administration of the methanol extract increased the glucose tolerance. The methanol extract showed significant (P < 0.01) antidiabetic activity. The extract treatment caused significant reduction (p < 0.01) in elevated fasting blood glucose level in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The streptozotocin-related weight loss in rats was noticeably reversed by the extract treatment. Finally, RT-PCR analysis revealed a novel mechanisms for the anti-diabetic action of methanol extract of F. deltoidea. The extract exerted its effect via an increase of insulin secretion which impeded the hepatic glucose production, via down-regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucose-6-phosphatase genes expression on one hand, and up-regulation of hepatic GK and PPARγ genes expression on the other hand. The extract caused an increased expression of GLUT-4 gene expression in skeletal muscles which leads to normalize the hyperglycemia. The extract also nullified the toxic effects of streptozitocin by blocking its entry into the islet β-cells through reducing the expression of GLUT-2 gene.ConclusionIt can be concluded that, F. deltoidea could potentially inhibits the streptozitocin-induced hyperglycemia in rats. Further the herb can be utilized as useful remedy for alleviation of diabetes complications.

BackgroundSince the first successful synthesis of Ag(I)-N-heterocyclic carbene complex in 1993, this class of compounds has been extensively used for transmetallation reactions where the direct synthesis using other metal ions was either difficult or impossible. Initially, silver(I)-NHC complexes were tested for their catalytic potential but could not get fame because of lower potential compare to other competent compounds in this field; however, these compounds proved to have vital antimicrobial activities. These encouraging biomedical applications further convinced researchers to test these compounds against cancer. The current work has been carried out with this aim.ResultsN-ipropylbenzimidazole was synthesized by reaction of benzimidazole with ipropyl bromide. The subsequent treatment of the resulting N-alkylbenzimidazole with ortho/meta/para-(bromomethylene) benzene afforded corresponding bis-benzimidazolium bromides (5-7). The counter anion (Br-) of each salt was replaced by hexaflourophosphate (PF6-) for the ease of handling and further purification (8-10). Each salt (Ligand), in halide form, was further allowed to react with Ag2O with stirring at room temperature for a period of two days to synthesize dinuclear Ag(I)-NHC complexes (11-13). All synthesized compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques and microanalysis. Molecular structures of compounds 5, 9 &10 were established through single crystal x-ray diffraction technique. All the compounds were assessed for their anti-proliferation test on human colorectal cancer cell line (HCT 116). Results showed that the ligands (5-10) showed mild to negligible cytotoxicity on HCT 116 cells whereas respective silver complexes (11-13) exhibited dose dependent cytotoxicity towards the colon cancer cells with IC50 ranges between 9.7 to 44.5 μM. Interestingly, the complex 13 having para-xylyl spacer was found the most active (IC50 9.7 μM) that verifies our previously reported results.ConclusionsAll the bis-benzimidazolium salts (8-10) were found inactive whereas after bonding with silver cations, the Ag(I)-NHC complexes (11-13) showed a dose dependent cytotoxic activity. This proved that silver practice an important role in death of cancer cells. Also, the N-alkyl/aryl substitutions and ortho/metal/para xylyl units regulate the cytotoxicity.