Protective role of Carica papaya and Ficus bengalensis latex against CCl4 induced liver toxicity in experimental rats

Objective: To study the hepatoprotective activity of  Carica Papaya Latex at the  dose 400mg/kg/b.w. per oral and Ficus Bengalensis latex at dose 300mg/kg/b.w. per oral  against CCl4  induce Hepatotoxicity in albino rats. Method: Animals were divided into 5 groups of 6 animals in each group. Group I – Served as a normal control received saline 1ml /Kg for 21 days. The group -II, III, IV and V animals were received CCl4 at dose 1ml/Kg b.w./day  intra- peritoneally. Animals from group –III to V received Carica Papaya Latex (400mg/Kg.p.o.), Ficus Bengalensis Latex (300mg/Kg.p.o.) and standard drug Silymarin (30mg/Kg.p.o.) once daily for 21 days.  All groups animals were sacrificed on 22 days under light ether anesthesia  . Blood sample were collected and used for bio-chemical parameters like serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), Bilirubin(BRN), Alkaline phosphate (ALP) and total protein. Result:The results were observed that  Carica Papaya latex at dose 400 mg/kg.b.w and CCl4  treated group , Ficus Bengalensis latex at dose 300 mg/kg.B.w and CCl4  treated groups were found the decreased levels of SGPT,SGOT,, ALP and Bilirubin  and increased total protein level compare to CCl4 treated group .So that this  study indicated hepatoprotective effect . Conclusion: Present investigation indicated that both latex of Carica papaya and Ficus Bengalensis showed significant protection against CCl4 nduced hepatotoxicity in Rats. Keywords: Carica Papaya, Ficus Bengalensis, Hepatoprotective, Carbon Tetra Chloride, Silymarin

Glycolipids and other constituents from Desmodium gangeticum with antileishmanial and immunomodulatory activities

Nineteen compounds of various classes, such as flavonoid glycosides, pterocarpanoids, lipids, glycolipids, and alkaloids, were isolated and identified from the Desmodium gangeticum whole plant. Aminoglucosyl glycerolipid (8) is reported here for the first time. Its structure has been elucidated by spectroscopic and degradation studies. This novel compound exhibited in vitro antileishmanial and immunomodulatory activities, as it enhanced nitric oxide (NO) production and provided resistance against infection established in peritoneal macrophages by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. Another known compound, glycosphingolipid (cerebroside) (7) was found to possess significant in vitro antileishmanial and immunomodulatory activities against the same parasite. Other compounds were found to be inactive

<i>Desmodium gangeticum</i> : A potent anti-ulcer agent

517-521The present study was designed to investigate anti-ulcerogenic property of ethanolic extract of Desmodium gangeticum (DG) against cold restraint (CRU, 2 hr cold restraint stress), aspirin (ASP, 150 mg/kg orally), alcohol (AL, absolute alcohol 1m1/200gm) and pyloric ligation (PL, 4 hr pylorus ligation) induced gastric ulcer models in Sprague Dawley rats, and histamine (HST, 0.25 mg/kg) induced duodenal ulcer in guinea pigs. We found that DG at a dose of 200mg/kg, (orally), markedly decreased the incidence of ulcers in all the above models. DG showed significant protection against CRU (68.37%), AL (88.87%), ASP (38.2%), PL (40.63%) and HST (63.15%) induced ulcer models, whereas standard drug omeprazole (OMZ) showed protection index of 83.86, 56.35, 70.31 and 84.21%, respectively in CRU, ASP, PL and HST models. Sucralfate as standard drug showed 92.64% protection in AL model. DG significantly reduced acid secretion 41.61 %, whereas OMZ produced 43.13% reduction. Treatment with DG showed increase in mucin secretion by 56.17%, whereas OMZ showed 12.45% increase. Anti-ulcer effect of DG may be due to its cytoprotective effect along with antisecretory activity and could act as a potent therapeutic agent against peptic ulcer disease

Efficacy of Desmodium gangeticum extract and its fractions against experimental visceral leishmaniasis

Crude ethanolic extract of Indian medicinal plant, Desmodium gangeticum (A001) and its three fractions—hexane (F002), n-butanol (F003) and aqueous (F004) were evaluated chemoprophylactically and chemotherapeutically against experimental visceral leishmaniasis in hamsters. Ethanolic extract showed 41.2 ± 5.3% inhibition of parasite multiplication when administered at a dose of 250 mg/kg × 2 on day −7 and +7 of Leishmania donovani challenge. Its n-butanol fraction exhibited better efficacy than the ethanolic extract to the tune of 66.7 ± 6.1% inhibition when administered at similar dose schedule. But the other two fractions failed to exert any action prophylactically. F003 also imparted significant (P &#60; 0.001) non-specific resistance to peritoneal macrophages against Leishmania infection. F003 also showed moderate antileishmanial activity when tested against established infection of Leishmania donovani in hamsters but the rest three fractions failed to show any significant inhibition of parasite multiplication. These findings revealed that this plant has potential prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy against Leishmania infection and warrants detailed investigations on its possible immunopotentiatory actions