Biomedical Research

Muhammad Munawar Hayat*, Muhammad Uzair

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan

Introduction

The Neurada procumbens is a desert plant belongs to family Neuradaceae and traditionally used a nerve tonic and cooling agent with the name of herbal preparation “Thadal” in summer by local people. Its folkloric uses are as anthelmintic, anticonvulsant, laxative, infestinal problems, eczema, infections, rheumatism and sexual problems [1]. The leaves and fruits of the plant are used for medicinal purposes and whole plant is a source of fodder for camel [2]. It is an annual prostrate densely tomentose herb. The local name of Neurada procumbens is “Chapperi Booti” and “Als’dan”. According to Flora of West Pakistan, there is only single species distributed in Pakistan from the genus Neurada [3]. The influence of aqueous extract of N. procumbens when administered orally increases the blood pressure of rats. The study provides that elevation of blood pressure was due to vasoconstriction on the aortic strips of rats in vitro [4]. It is also reported that ethanolic extract of N. procumbens reduced the blood pressure in rabbits [5]. Quinone oxidoreductase 1 inducer activity of plant is also reported [6]. Recently, some flavonoids are isolated from N. procumbens in Egypt [7]. Literature survey revealed that there is too much diverse folkloric use of the plant in residants of Cholistan desert but little work regarding biological screening and enzymatic inhibition studies of N. procumbens has been done. Therefore, it was need to explore the therapeutical potential of the plant. The objectives of present study were to investigate the secondary metabolites, chemical constituents and enzymatic or biological activities. Despite the multiple ethanomedicinal uses of N. procumbens in diarrhea, dysentery, diabetes, inflammation, ulcer, edema, asthma, oxidative stress and skin problems, no research work is available with respect to its effectiveness in these diseases. The present work on the two crude extracts of the plant N. procumbens was undertaken for various biological and enzyme inhibition activities to scientifically rationalize the traditional uses and also includes the phytochemical screening or evaluation of the plant.

Materials and Methods

Collection and extraction of plant Objective: Neurada procumbens L is a medicinal herb with diverse folk history and is traditionally used to treat diarrhea, dysentery, diabetes, eczema, anticonvulsant, rheumatism, laxative, infestinal and gastrointestinal problems, sexual problems, anthelmintic, infections and respiration function. The aim of this study was to prove the uses of plant N. procumbens in gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders scientifically.

Method: The phytoconstituents were identified by GC-MS technique. In this study, twelve (12) different kinds of in vitro biological and enzyme inhibition activities were performed to explore the diverse folkloric use of the plant scientifically.

Results: On phytochemical screening, it was proved that plant N. procumbens is rich source of flavonoids as dichloromethane and methanol extracts have 143.45 ± 1.25 and 200.69 ± 1.97 mg QE/g of extract, respectively. By GC-MS analysis, nine (9) compounds in dichloromethane extract and six (06) in methanol extract were detected. The dicloromethane extract of whole plant of N. procumbens showed anti-lipooxygenase, anti-chymotripsin, anti- alpha glucosidase, anti-urease and anti-tyrosinase activities, whereas methanol extract showed antioxidant, anti-alpha glucosidase, anti-urease, anti-tyrosinase, anticarbonic anhydrase II, spasmolytic and bronchorelaxant activities.

Conclusion: The study proofs the folk medicinal use of N. procumbens to treat diabetes, diarrhea, and improvement in gastrointestinal and respiration functions which justifies the pharmacological importance of plant. Moreover, this study can be considering a solid back ground for further in vivo studies.

Author(s): Muhammad Munawar Hayat, Muhammad Uzair
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