@article {504, title = {Evaluating the Anticancer Potential of Ethanolic Gall Extract of Terminalia chebula (Gaertn.) Retz. (Combretaceae)}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Research}, volume = {8}, year = {2016}, month = {May 2016}, pages = {209-212}, type = {Short Communication}, chapter = {209}, abstract = {

Plants have been an important source for discovery of anticancer compounds. With the current decline in the number of new molecular entities from the pharmaceutical industry, novel anticancer agents are being sought from traditional medicines; therefore the anticancer efficacy of many plants that are used in traditional medicine is yet to be verified. The objective of the study was to evaluate the cytotoxic potential of ethanolic leaf gall extract of Terminalia chebula are evaluated against buffalo rat liver 3A, MCF-7 (Human mammary gland adenocarcinoma) and A-549 (Human lung cancer) cell lines. The cytotoxic effect of the ethanolic extract was evaluated by MTT assay. The extract was potent and effective in inducing cytotoxic effects in all the cell lines with an IC50 value of 305.18 {\textpm} 1.7 μg/mL, 643.13 {\textpm} 4.2 μg/mL, and 208.16 {\textpm} 3.7 μg/mL, respectively. The extract was more effective against A549 cell lines when compared to others. The presences of phenolics, triterpenoids, and flavonoids were identified in the extract. The extract showed total phenolic and flavonoid content of 478 {\textpm} 2.2 mg of gallic acid equivalent/g d.w and 538 {\textpm} 1.4 mg of quercetin equivalent/g d.w, respectively. This higher content of total phenolics and flavonoids found in the ethanolic extract was directly associated to higher cytotoxicity activity. Conclusion: The ethanolic leaf gall extract of T. chebula showed effective cytotoxic activities; which might be attributed to the phenolics/flavonoids present in higher concentration. Future work will be interesting to know the chemical composition of the extract and also better understand the mechanism of action of the constituents present in the extract to develop it as drug for therapeutic application.

}, keywords = {Alternative medicine, Drugs, Indian medicinal plants, Inhibition, Traditional medicine}, doi = {10.4103/0974-8490.182919}, author = {B. E. Ravi Shankara and Y. L. Ramachandra and S. Sundara Rajan and P. S. Sujan Ganapathy and Nagendra Sastry Yarla and S. A. Richard and Bhadrapura Lakkappa Dhananjaya} } @article {501, title = {In vivo Toxicity Studies on Gall Extracts of Terminalia chebula (Gaertn.) Retz. (Combretaceae)}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Research}, volume = {8}, year = {2016}, month = {May 2016}, pages = {199-201}, type = {Original Article}, chapter = {199}, abstract = {

The galls of Terminala chebula (Gaertn.) Retz. (Combretaceae) are used for the treatment of various diseases in folk medicine and has been found to posses anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-helmintic, anti-tyrosinase, and anti-aging activities. Considering the ethano-botanical and diverse pharmacological applications of galls of T. chebula, in this study, we investigate the possible toxic effects of different gall extracts of T. chebula by Brine shrimp (Artemia salina) toxicity assay. The cytotoxicity test of leaf gall extracts (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol, and aqueous) of T. chebula was evaluated by Brine shrimp (A. salina) toxicity assay, which is based on the ability to kill laboratory cultured Artemia nauplii (animals eggs) and also total content of polyphenols, flavonoids with other qualitative phytochemical analysis of the extract were determined. It was observed that the petroleum ether extract was virtually nontoxic on the shrimps, and exhibited very low toxicity with LC50 value of 4356.76 μg/ml. Furthermore, the chloroform extract exhibited very low toxicity, giving LC50 value of 1462.2 μg/ml. On the other hand, the ethanol extract was very toxic to brine shrimps with LC50 value of 68.64 μg/ml. The ethanol extract had the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content of 136 {\textpm} 1.5 mg of gallic acid equivalent/g d.w and 113 {\textpm} 1.6 mg of quercetin equivalent/g d.w, respectively. The higher toxicity effect was positively correlated to the high content of total polyphenols/flavonoids in the extract. This significant lethality of different extracts to brine shrimp is an indicative of the presence of potent cytotoxic components which warrants further investigation.

}, keywords = {Assay, Brine shrimp assay, Cytotoxic, Drug, Extract, Galls, Toxicity}, doi = {10.4103/0974-8490.182914}, author = {Ravi Shankara Birur Eshwarappa and Y. L. Ramachandra and Sundara Rajan Subaramaihha and Sujan Ganapathy Pasura Subbaiah and Richard Surendranath Austin and Bhadrapura Lakkappa Dhananjaya} } @article {505, title = {Inhibition of Group IIA Secretory Phospholipase A2 and its Inflammatory Reactions in Mice by Ethanolic Extract of Andrographis paniculata, a Well-known Medicinal Food}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Research}, volume = {8}, year = {2016}, month = {May 2016}, pages = {213-216}, type = {Short Communication}, chapter = {213}, abstract = {

Andrographis paniculata Nees is an important medicinal plant found in the tropical regions of the world, which has been traditionally used in Indian and Chinese medicinal systems. It is also used as medicinal food. A. paniculata is found to exhibit anti-inflammatory activities; however, its inhibitory potential on inflammatory Group IIA phospholipases A2 (PLA2) and its associated inflammatory reactions are not clearly understood. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the inhibitory/neutralizing potential of ethanolic extract of A. paniculata on the isolated inflammatory PLA2 (VRV-PL-VIIIa) from Daboii rusellii pulchella (belonging to Group IIA inflammatory secretory PLA2 [sPLA2]) and its associated edema-induced activities in Swiss albino mice. A. paniculata extract dose dependently inhibited the Group IIA sPLA2 enzymatic activity with an IC50 value of 10.3 {\textpm} 0.5 μg/ml. Further, the extract dose dependently inhibited the edema formation, when co-injected with enzyme indicating that a strong correlation exists between lipolytic and pro-inflammatory activities of the enzyme. In conclusion, results of this study shows that the ethanolic extract of A. paniculata effectively inhibits Group IIA sPLA2 and its associated inflammatory activities, which substantiate its anti-inflammatory properties. The results of the present study warranted further studies to develop bioactive compound (s) in ethanolic extract of A. paniculata as potent therapeutic agent (s) for inflammatory diseases.

}, keywords = {Disease, Drug, Inflammation, Inhibition, Neutralization, Plants}, doi = {10.4103/0974-8490.182916}, author = {V. Kishore and N. S. Yarla and F. Zameer and M. N. Nagendra Prasad and M. S. Santosh and S. S. More and D. G. Rao and Bhadrapura Lakkappa Dhananjaya} } @article {432, title = {Antioxidant Activities of Ficus glomerata (moraceae) Leaf Gall Extracts}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Research}, volume = {7}, year = {2015}, month = {December 2014}, pages = {114-120}, type = {Original Article}, chapter = {114}, abstract = {

An excess production or decreased scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diverse metabolic disorders such as diabetes, cancer, atherosclerosis and neurodegeneration. Hence the antioxidant therapy has gained an utmost importance in the treatment of such diseases linked to free radicals. The medicinal properties of plants have been investigated and explored for their potent antioxidant activities to counteract metabolic disorders. This research highlights the chemical composition and antioxidant potential of leaf gall extracts (aqueous and methanol) of Ficus glomerata (F. glomerata), which is extensively used in the preparation of traditional medications to treat various metabolic diseases. The presences of phenolics, flavonoids, phytosterols, terpenoids and reducing sugars were identified in both the extracts. In comparison to the aqueous extract, the methanol extract had the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content at 370 {\textpm} 3.2 mg of gallic acid equivalent per gram of dry weight (mg GAE/g dw) and 155 {\textpm} 3.2 mg of quercetin equivalent per gram of dry weight (mg QUE/g dw), respectively. The antioxidant activities of leaf gall extracts were examined using diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Nitric oxide scavenging, hydroxyl scavenging and ferric reducing power (FRAP) methods. In all the methods, the methanolic extract showed higher antioxidant potential than the aqueous extract. A higher content of both total phenolics and flavonoids were found in the methanolic extract and the significantly high antioxidant activity can be positively correlated to the high content of total polyphenols/flavonoids of the methanol extract. The results of this study confirm the folklore use of F. glomerata leaf gall extracts as a natural antioxidant and justify its ethnobotanical use. Further, the results of antioxidant properties encourage the use of F. glomerata leaf gall extracts for medicinal health, functional food and nutraceuticals applications. Future work will be interesting in knowing the chemical composition and better understand the mechanism of action of the antioxidants present for development as drug for its therapeutic application.

}, keywords = {Antioxidant, Drug, Ficus glomerata, Gallic acid, Galls, Metabolic diseases, Plants.}, doi = {10.4103/0974-8490.147225}, author = {Ravi Shankara Birur Eshwarappa and Shanthi Iyer and Sundara Rajan Subaramaihha and S Austin Richard and Bhadrapura Lakkappa Dhananjaya} }