Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine
Volume:3 Issue: 4, Autumn 2013

Liver is an important organ that is exposed to many oxidant and carcinogenic agents, thus antioxidant compounds are beneficial for liver health. Artemisia contains flavonoid compounds and anti-diabetic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Due to possessing terpene and sesquiterpene compounds, this plant has antioxidant properties. This study was done to investigate the effects of Artemisia plant extract on thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats. For induction of hepatotoxicity, 50 mg/kg thioacetamide was injected intraperitoneally (i.p).After extraction and purification, the hydroalcoholicextract was injected i.p. at 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg doses for 21 days together with thioacetamide at 50 mg/kg dose in the last 3 days. After blood sampling and separation of serum, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), albumin, and total protein concentrations were measured. Significant decreases in aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities and significant increases in the concentration of albumin and total protein in groups treated with the extract compared with thioacetamide-treated group were observed (p<0.05). The results indicate that protective effects of Artemisia extract against the thioacetamide-induced hepatotoxicity may be due to its ability to block the bioactivation of thioacetamide, primarily by inhibiting the activity of Cyp450 and free radicals. Artemisia possesses quercetin. Studies have demonstrated that quercetin inhibits lipid peroxidation and as an antioxidant can inhibit lipid peroxidation.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the possible analgesic, neuropharmacological, anti-diarrheal, and cytotoxic activities of the ethanol extract of leaves of Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam. (Family: Solanaceae). The analgesic activity was measured by acetic acid-induced writhing inhibition test. The neuropharmacological activities were evaluated using hole cross, hole board, and elevated plus-maze test and the anti-diarrheal activity was assessed using castor oil-induced diarrhea inhibition method. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay was carried out for assessing the cytotoxicity of the ethanol extract of the leaves. Except cytotoxic activity, all the tests were conducted on mice. The extract at oral doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight showed highly significant (p<0.001) decrease in number of writhing, 52.1±0.66 and 4.4±0.64 compared with the control (78.6±0.29) with the percentage of inhibitions of writhing response were found to be 33.72% and 94.40%, respectively. Compare with the control, the extract at both doses showed significant sedative effect in hole cross test. In hole board test, the extract exhibited highly significant (p<0.001) anxiolytic activity at dose of (200 mg/kg), while the same activity was observed at dose of 400 mg/kg in elevated plus-maze test. The extract showed highly significant (p<0.001) anti-diarrheal activity in a dose-dependent manner. With the extract, significant lethality to brine shrimp was found with LC50 value of 61.66±0.9 μg/ml, which was comparable with the positive control(LC50: 11.89±0.8 µg/ml). The results from the present studies support the traditional uses of this plant part and could form the basis of further investigation including compound isolation.

The present study was conducted to detect possible chemicals (phytoconstituents), prove ethno-medicinal value of the plant, and investigate antimicrobial, anthelmintic, and total phenolic content of crude methanolic extract of the Solanum violaceum plant.

Phytochemical screening was carried out using different chemical group test methods. In anthelmintic activity test (using Pheretima posthuma model), five concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 80 mg/ml in distilled water) of extracts and albendazole as standard were used which involved the vermifuge and vermicidal activity on the worms. For the evaluation of in vitro antimicrobial activity, disc diffusion method, and to determine the total phenolic content, Folin-Ceocalteu method (gallic acid as standard) were used.

The phytoconstituent analysis revealed presence of alkaloids, carbohydrate, glycoside, flavonoid, saponin, gum, diterpenes, phenol, protein, and tannin. The crude extract exhibited significant anthelmintic property comparing with the standard. The methanolic extract revealed broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity at the concentration of 400 µg/disc. The results were compared with that of the standard ciprofloxacin. The extract exhibited moderate amount of total phenolic compound (54.67±1.18 mg/gm of gallic acid equivalent).

Since S. violaceum have shown antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anthelmintic activities, more studies such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, and other pharmacological activities should be carried out to justify its traditional use, as the plant is available and used broadly in the rural areas for folkloric remedies.

Several phytochemical agents have been known to exhibit a neuroprotective effect. Among them, curcumin, linalool, rutin, safranal, and thymoquinonewere widely investigated and neuroprotective activity of each of them was shown by several studies. This work was planned to investigate whether different combinations of them could induce better neuroprotective effect against glucose/serum deprivation (GSD)-induced cytotoxicity. PC12 cells were cultivated for 8 h in GSD condition in both the absence and presence of curcumin, linalool, rutin, safranal, thymoquinone, or combinations of them. At the end of the experiment, the cell viability was determined using MTT assay. The cells cultured in GSD condition showed a significant decrease in viability (28±1%) as compared with those cultured in standard condition (100±2%). In the presence of curcumin (10 µg/ml), linalool (16 µg/ml), rutin (200 µg/ml), safranal (50 µg/ml), and thymoquinone (1 µg/ml), the cell viability increased to 69±3.4% (p<0.001), 44±1.4% (p<0.01), 64±0.5% (p<0.001), 49±2% (p<0.001), and 70±3.2% (p<0.001), respectively. When different combinations of the agents were tested, the best cytoprotective activity was obtained from safranal + curcumin + thymoquinone (97±5%, pvs. untreated cells). The present study demonstrated that a combination of safranal + curcumin + thymoquinone can block GSD-induced cell death and has the potential to be considered for management of cerebral ischemia and neurodegenerative diseases.

It is generally agreed that most of the phenomena observed during brain ischemia and reperfusion can be explained by the damage to membrane structure. Oxidative stress is resulted in an imbalance between high consumption of oxygen and low levels of endogenous antioxidants. It is known that gallic acid (GA) is a strong antioxidant. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of GA on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced brain injury in rats. Wistar adult male rats weighing 200–250 g were divided into six groups as sham operated (Sh), ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) received normal saline (I+Veh), I/R groups treated with gallic acid (I+GA, 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg, orally, respectively), or with 100 mg /kg phenytoin (I+Phen). The global cerebral I/R injury was induced by occluding bilateral common carotid arteries (BCCA) for 20 min, followed by 5 days reperfusion in adult male rats. It was found that administration of 100 mg/kg GA for 5 days before and 5 days after I/R induction reversed gait performance, sensorimotor disorders (p<0.01), and hypoalgesia (p<0.001) while dose of 50 mg/kg increased passive avoidance memory significantly (p<0.05). Our findings clearly demonstrate that GA has beneficial effects on behavioral impairments after brain injury induced by I/R. The results of this study show that GA pretreatment ameliorates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury and enhances the antioxidant defense against BCCA occlusion-induced I/R in rats, so it exhibits cerebroprotective property.

Walnut (Juglans Regia) is a domestic fruit of Iran. Walnut kernel (WK) has many beneficial constituents such as unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamin E. Scientific studies have shown that fatty acids and vitamin E can modulate learning and memory processes. The aim of the present work was to study effects of walnut consumption by mothers during pregnancy and lactation on learning and memory in adult rat offsprings. The animals were divided into three groups: control (fed with ordinary food, 20 g daily), gestation (fed with WK, 6% of food intake during pregnancy), and gestation and lactation (fed with WK, 6% of food intake during gestation and lactation). Morris water maze test was performed for their adult offsprings. The results showed that there was a significant difference in learning and memory of rat offsprings between experimental and control groups. These data may indicate that feeding mothers with WK results in improvement in learning and memory of their offsprings.

Reproductive dysfunction is a consequence of diabetes. Diabetes is associated with changes in testicular tissue. Sesame oil contains large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids and lignin with antioxidant activity, vitamin E, and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA). The present study investigated the effects of sesame on testis histology and male reproductive parameters in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Thirty mature male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups, i.e., control (C), diabetic-control (DC), and sesame-treated diabetic rats (SD). Diabetes was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg; i.p). The animals were treated by a single intraperitoneal sesame extract injection (100 mg/kg b.w.) once daily for 6 weeks. The biochemical analysis revealed that the diabetes resulted in significant (p<0.05) reduction in spermiogenesis, testosterone, LH, and FSH levels. Light microscopic analysis showed remarkable (p<0.05) reduction in STD (seminiferous tubules diameter), SPI (spermatogenesis index) thickness of the epithelium, and significant increase in thickness of the interstitial tissue in the diabetic group compared with the control group. Simultaneous administration of the sesame could fairly up-regulate testosterone, LH, and FSH of the animals in this group. However, some differences were manifested with improved histological features as thickness of the epithelium, seminiferous tubules diameter, and spermatogenesis index. These data demonstrated that sesame significantly improved diabetes complication in rat testis. This study suggested that sesame might have a protective effect against oxidative stress-induced impaired testicular functions in diabetic rats.

Inflammation is one of the major components of asthma. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of C. sativus extract on total and differential white blood cells (WBC) count in lung lavage fluid (LLF) of ovalbumin-sensitized rats. Forty rats were divided into five groups (n = 8 for each group) as control (C), sensitized with injection and inhalation of ovalbumin (OA) alone (S), and three groups of sensitized and treated with different doses of C. sativus extract (S+50EX, S+100EX, and S+200EX groups). Total and differential WBC counts of LLF were evaluated in control, sensitized, and treated sensitized groups. Total WBC count, neutrophil, and eosinophil percentage in LLF were increased in sensitized animals compared with the control group (p<0.001). Treatment of sensitized animals with all doses of the extract significantly reduced WBC number and the percentage of neutrophil and eosinophil compared with the sensitized animals (p<0.01–0.001). According to these results, the extract of C. sativus could be effective on alleviating lung inflammatory cells specially eosinophils in lung lavage of sensitized animals which may indicate a preventive effect of this plant on lung inflammation in asthma.

The effects of natural adjuvants were examined on total and differential WBC counts in lung lavage of sensitized guinea pigs. In three sensitized groups of guinea pigs including: untreated sensitized animals (S), sensitized animals treated with adjuvant G2 (S+G2) and G2F (S+G2F) as well as non-sensitized group (C) (n=6 for each group), total and differential WBC counts of lung lavage were examined. Sensitization of animals was achieved by injection and inhalation of ovalbumin (OA). The results showed increased total WBC, eosinophil, neutrophil, and basophil counts, and decreased lymphocytes in lung lavage of sensitized animals compared with the control group (p These results indicate important preventive effects of two natural adjuvants, especially G2, on lung inflammation of sensitized guinea pigs.

The purpose of current study was to determine the effect of Phaleria macrocarpa (P. macrocarpa)fruits aqueous extract on reproductive performance of adult male rats by assessing the serum testosterone level and evaluating their libido behavior. Methods and Materials: Eighteen male adult Spraque Dawley rats were divided into three groups and designated as treatment (240 mg/kg P. macrocarpaaqueous extract), negative control (distilled water), and positive control (4 mg/kg testosterone) which were supplemented through intragastric gavage for seven weeks. On the seventh week of supplementation, each of the male rats was introduced to five female rats at five different days to allow mating and observed the libido behavior. The mounting latency and mounting frequency were recorded for each mating. P. macrocarpa aqueous extract significantly increased (p<0.05) the serum testosterone level and mounting frequency of male rats. However, there was no significant effect on mounting latency. Body weight was significantly lower in rats supplemented with P. macrocarpa aqueous extract compared with the control groups (p<0.05). P. macrocarpa showed potential value as an alternative for improving the sexual strength by increasing the level of testosterone and libido behavior. Thus, it is suggested that P. macrocarpa can improve the fertility in man.