The rhizome of Alpinia galanga (L.) WILLD.-galanga major or greater galangal-has been used as flavouring agent as well as medicinally in southeastern Asia for centuries. An extensive use of the plant by Indian practitio

Background. The product combination of Piper crocatum Ruiz. and Pav., Phyllanthus niruri Linn., and Typhonium flagelliforme (Lodd.) BL ethanolic extract (SKM) exerts immunomodulatory activity. However, the toxicity profile of the combination has never been investigated. Objective. This study aimed to establish the acute toxicity profile of the SKM product on Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats and its subchronic toxicity profile on female SD rats. Method. The acute and subchronic toxicity tests were conducted in accordance with OECD 423 and OECD 408, respectively. Result. The SKM product was safe up to 5000 mg/kg b.w. in male and female SD rats. In repeated doses of SKM for 90 days, the administration of 22.5, 45, and 90 mg/kg b.w. per day of the SKM product to female SD rats did not affect clinical signs, body weight, food and water consumption, hematological parameters, clinical chemical parameters, urinalysis, relative organ weights, and gross pathological and histopathological features compared with the control group. Conclusion. Analyses of these results suggest that the long-term oral administration of the SKM product for 90 days does not cause subchronic toxicity.

Research of radical scavenging activity of sambiloto (Andrographis paniculata Nees) and patikan kebo (Euphorbia hirta L) ethanolic extracts and their combination toward 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhidrazyl (DPPH) has conducted. Subjects of this experiment comprise sambiloto ethanolic extract, patikan kebo ethanolic extract, dechlorophyllated extract of sambiloto and combinations among those three. Dechlorophyllation by electrocoagulation method is done to reduce chlorophyll content thereby increasing the level of active compound in the sambiloto extract. The results of dechlorophyllation showed that only total flavonoid content in the extract of sambiloto increased, meanwhile the radical scavenging activity results showed that patikan kebo ethanolic extract has the lowest IC50 value (22,36 µg/mL) compared to sambiloto ethanolic extract (IC50 value 499,03 µg/mL). Extract combination may increase DPPH radical scavenging activity of the sambiloto extract (IC50 value 76,06 µg/mL) but not higher than that of patikan kebo single extract.

Doxorubicin (DOX) has been extensively utilized in cancer treatment. However, DOX administration has adverse effects, such as cardiac injury. This study intends to analyze the expression of TGF, cytochrome c, and apoptosis on the cardiac histology of rats induced with doxorubicin, since the prevalence of cardiotoxicity remains an unpreventable problem due to a lack of understanding of the mechanism underlying the cardiotoxicity result. Vernonia amygdalina ethanol extract (VAEE) was produced by soaking dried Vernonia amygdalina leaves in ethanol. Rats were randomly divided into seven groups: K- (only given doxorubicin 15 mg/kgbw), KN (water saline), P100, P200, P400, P4600, and P800 (DOX 15 mg/kgbw + 100, 200, 400, 600, and 800 mg/kgbw extract); at the end of the study, rats were scarified, and blood was taken directly from the heart; the heart was then removed. TGF, cytochrome c, and apoptosis were stained using immunohistochemistry, whereas SOD, MDA, and GR concentration were evaluated using an ELISA kit. In conclusion, ethanol extract might protect the cardiotoxicity produced by doxorubicin by significantly reducing the expression of TGF, cytochrome c, and apoptosis in P600 and P800 compared to untreated control K- (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that Vernonia amygdalina may protect cardiac rats by reducing the apoptosis, TGF, and cytochrome c expression while not producing the doxorubicinol as doxorubicin metabolite. In the future, Vernonia amygdalina could be used as herbal preventive therapy for patient administered doxorubicin to reduce the incidence of cardiotoxicity.

Awar-awar (Ficus septica) is an Indonesian anticancer plant that contains alkaloids as the active compound. The n-hexane insoluble fraction (FTLH) is alkaloid-containing fraction obtained from the ethanolic extract of F. septica leaves (EEDFS) by fractionation using n-hexane. High shear mixer (HSM) can be used to optimize the separation processes, including fractionation. The application of HSM in the fractionation of EEDFS is affected by fractionation duration, amount of solvent per gram extract, and strirring strength. Thus, these parameters must be optimized to obtain the optimum condition for the production of FTLH with the highest alkaloid content. This study aimed to optimize the production of FTLH using HSM with factorial designs. The single factor experimental design was employed to determine the influence of the individual variable on the alkaloid content and to define the optimum range value of each variable. A full factorial design was used to determine the presence of interaction among the factors and to determine the optimal fractionation condition. The results showed that all investigated factors independently affected alkaloid contents. The solvent volume of 14-18 mL per gram extract, the fractionation duration of 2.5-5.0 minutes, and the stirring strength of 3000 rpm are the optimal range value of each factor. The optimal conditions were solvent volume of 14.0-14.4 mL/gram extract, fractionation duration of 2.5-2.7 minutes, and strirring strength at 3000 rpm. At the optimal condition, the total alkaloid content in the FTLH reached 0.1466% or 1.3 times higher than the extract (0.1128%).