The chloroform extract of the aerial part of Limnophila geoffrayi showed antimycobacterial and antioxidant activities. Bioassay-guided fractionation has led to the isolation of the flavones nevadensin (5,7-dihydroxy-6,8,4'-trimethoxyflavone, 1) and isothymusin (6,7-dimethoxy-5,8,4'-trihydroxyflavone, 2). Both compounds 1 and 2 exhibited inhibition activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, with equal MIC value of 200 microg/mL. Only compound 2 exhibited antioxidant activity against the radical scavenging ability of DPPH, with the IC50 value of 7.7 microg/mL. The crude hexane, chloroform and methanol extracts as well as the pure compounds 1 and 2 did not exhibit mutagenic activity in the Bacillus subtilis recassay.

The methanol extract from Morinda citrifolia fruits was tested for cytotoxicity activity on the MTT assay. The appearance of cytotoxic changes after exposure to the extract was in a concentration dependent manner. The median lethal concentrations (LC(50)) of the extract in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells, African green monkey kidney (Vero) cells and human laryngeal carcinoma (Hep2) cells were found to be 2.5, 3 and 5 mg/mL, respectively. A concentration of 0.1 mg/mL of crude extract exhibited cytotoxic activity against breast cancer (MCF7) and neuroblastoma (LAN5) cell lines at 29% and 36%, respectively. The same concentration of extract showed no toxicity to Vero and very little toxicity to BHK (6%) and Hep2 (13%) cells.

The alcoholic extract from the fruits of Morinda citrifolia (noni) was evaluated for analgesic effect in mice using the acetic acid-induced writhing test. The extract was administered by i.p. injection in doses of 1, 2, 3 and 4 g of dried plant material kg -1 of animal body weight, 15 min before i.p. injection of acetic acid (0.75%). Morphine sulfate (1.5 mg kg -1 , i.p.) was used as the reference drug. Control animals received i.p. injections of 0.9% NaCl solution, instead of the extract. In control mice, the number of writhes during the 20 min test period was 43.0 ± 1.4 (mean ± S.E.M., n=6). The extracts produced a significant dose-dependent inhibition of acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction. The percentage inhibition was 4.4 ± 4.5, 21.2 ± 11.2, 71.4 ± 5.0, 93.1 ± 1.7 (mean ± S.E.M., n=6) at the doses of 1, 2, 3 and 4 g kg -1 respectively, compared to control animals. The inhibitory effect of the 4 g kg -1 dose of extract was similar to that produced by morphine in a dose of 1.5 mg kg -1 . The antinoniceptive effect in writhing test was statistically significant (p<0.001) for 15 min until 5 hr of administration. The data obtained suggest that the alcoholic extraction from the fruits of Morinda citrifolia appears to have analgesic effect. Further studies are necessary for the identification of the active principles and more detailed elucidation of its mechanism of action is required.

Objective: Combination therapy is a valid approach in pain treatment, in which a reduction of doses could reduce side effects and still achieve optimal analgesia. The objective was to determine the effects of coadministered diclofenac and the Derris scandens extract drug.Methods: Acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction test in mice was used to determine the type of interaction between components. The effective dose that produced 50% antinociception (ED50) was calculated from the log dose-response curves of fixed ratio combinations of diclofenac with the D. scandens extract drug. The ED 50 was compared to the theoretical additive ED 50 calculated from the ED 50 of diclofenac and of the D. scandens extract drug alone.Results: Diclofenac and the D. scandens extract drug dose-dependently and significantly reduced the abdominal writhing. The combination was the additive effect, the experimental ED 50 being smaller than the theoretically calculated ED 50 . Interaction index of the combination was 0.89. Conclusion:The present study demonstrates the additivity antinociceptive interactions between diclofenac and the D. scandens extract drug and may be used as a combination analgesic in the treatment of pain conditions.

Objective: Combination therapy is a valid approach in pain treatment, in which a reduction of doses could reduce side effects and still achieve optimal analgesia. The objective was to determine the effects of coadministered diclofenac and the Derris scandens extract drug.Methods: Acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction test in mice was used to determine the type of interaction between components. The effective dose that produced 50% antinociception (ED50) was calculated from the log dose-response curves of fixed ratio combinations of diclofenac with the D. scandens extract drug. The ED 50 was compared to the theoretical additive ED 50 calculated from the ED 50 of diclofenac and of the D. scandens extract drug alone.Results: Diclofenac and the D. scandens extract drug dose-dependently and significantly reduced the abdominal writhing. The combination was the additive effect, the experimental ED 50 being smaller than the theoretically calculated ED 50 . Interaction index of the combination was 0.89. Conclusion:The present study demonstrates the additivity antinociceptive interactions between diclofenac and the D. scandens extract drug and may be used as a combination analgesic in the treatment of pain conditions.