Antihistaminic activity of aqueous extract of stem bark of Ailanthus excelsa Roxb.

Abstract

Background:Biologically active compounds from natural sources are of interest as possible new drugs for different diseases. Over many centuries humans have been mining the bounties of nature for discovering natural products that have been used for the treatment of all human diseases. Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. (Simaroubaceae) is widely used in the Indian system of medicine as an antiasthmatic, antispasmodic, bronchodilator, anticolic pain, anticancer, antidiabetic etc. The plant was also reported for its antiasthmatic, bronchodilatory, antiallegic and many more such activities.Objective:To evaluate the antihistaminic activity of aqueous extract of stem bark of Ailanthus excelsa Roxb.Materials and Methods:We have studied the effect of aqueous extract of stem barks of A. excelsa Roxb. at a doses 100 μg/mL in the isolated goat tracheal chain preparation in vitro and 100, 200, 400 mg/kg doses orally in passive paw anaphylaxis in rat, clonidine-induced catalepsy in mice models in vivo for its antihistaminic activity.Results:Aqueous extract of stem barks of A. excelsa Roxb. significantly (***P<0.001) inhibits the percentage contraction at concentration of 100 μg/mL in goat tracheal chain preparation. A. excelsa Roxb. extract (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg oral) and dexamethasone (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) also significantly reduced (**P<0.01) the paw volume at fourth hour and the percentage inhibition was found to be 13.98%, 28.49%, 42.47% and 46.77% respectively. The aqueous extract of stem barks of A. excelsa Roxb. (100, 200, 400 mg/kg, p.o.) and chlorpheniramine maleate (10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly inhibited (*P<0.05, **P< 0.01) clonidine-induced catalepsy in mice at 150 min after the administration of clonidine.Conclusion:The aqueous extract of stem bark of A. excelsa Roxb. possess significant antihistaminic activity (H1-antagonist) and can be attributed to bronchodilating, anti-inflammatory, adaptogenic activity etc. Hence detailed study needs to be conducted to evaluate the phytoconstituent responsible for the above mentioned results and their clinical efficacy in the treatment of related diseases.

Potential antifertility agents from plants: A comprehensive review

“…AE is traditionally used by tribal ladies in India as antifertility agent. Studies of its extracts have shown reduced labor pain, febrifuge (Jain and Verma, 1964); antispasmodic (Bhakuni et al, 1969); anticancer, antimicrobial, antiamoebic and antiprotozoal (Ogura et al, 1978b;Shimali et al, 2001); antiplasmodial (Dell'Agli et al, 2008); bronchodilatory (Kumar et al, 2010); gastroprotective and antiscretory (Melanchauski et al, 2010) and hypoglycemic (Cabrera et al, 2008) activities. Several workers have reported various constituents such as quassinoids, glaucarubinone, ailanthin, ␤-sitosterol and malanthin (Kapoor et al, 1971;Bhatia et al, 1985), 1-p-deoxy-13-formyl ailanthinol and ailanthin (Cordell et al, 1978;Bhatia et al, 1983), excelsin, 13,18-dehydroexcelsin, glaucarubin, glaucarbol, 13,18-dehydro 15-iso-valearte and trihydroxy tirucal 7-ene (Ogura et al, 1978a;Jain, 1964;Khan and Shamsuddin, 1978;Khan et al, 1980;Sherman et al, 1980;Suroor et al, 1980) in AE.…”

AECHL-1, a novel triterpenoid, targets tumor neo-vasculature and impairs the endothelial cell cytoskeleton

“…We have recently isolated and characterized a novel triterpenoid Ailanthus excelsa chloroform extract-1 (AECHL-1) (C29H36O10) from the root bark of Ailanthus excelsa RoxB (Tree of heaven), a tree belonging to family Simaroubaceae, widely used in Ayurveda [ 22 , 23 ] as an anti-asthmatic, antispasmodic, bronchodilator, anti-colic pain and anti-diabetic [ 24 ]. The compound possesses anticancer activity against a variety of cancer cell lines of different origin and is less toxic, more selective and more effective in the treatment of cancer in comparison with plant-derived anticancer compound paclitaxel and metal-based compound cisplatin.…”

Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. is Really a Plant of Heaven

“…in doses of isovalerate have shown substantial antitumor and 100, 200, 400 mg kgG showed significant activity cytotoxic activities against the P 388 lymphocytic (Kumar et al, 2010c). leukemia and KB test system respectively.…”