Objectives: The present study assessed the phytochemical components, In vitro antioxidant ability and cytotoxicity of leaf extract of Ficus racemosa. Methods: Preliminary phytochemical analysis in aqueous and ethanol was carried out for the presence of phytochemical components. Of the two extracts used ethanolic extract possessed the highest phytochemical constituents compared to aqueous extract. Hence the antioxidant activity of ethanolic extract of F. racemosa was performed by several antioxidant assays including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, nitric oxide (NO) scavenging assay, reducing power and superoxide radical (SO) scavenging assay. Results: From the results, F. racemosa has been found to have the significant antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner and IC 50 value was 150 μg/ml for DPPH and 100 μg/ml for both NO and SO scavenging assays. Further, the cytotoxicity analysis was determined against Dalton Lymphoma Ascites (DLA) cell line and the IC 50 value was found to be 175 μg/ml for ethanolic leaf extract of F. racemosa. Conclusion: Hence, the current study attests that F. racemosa is enriched in phytochemicals and a fine source of natural antioxidants with anticancer agents and can be used in pharmaceutical preparations for the treatment of diseases induced by oxidative stress.

Background:Peptic ulcer disease (PUD), encompassing gastric and duodenal ulcers is the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorder. The pathophysiology of PUD involves an imbalance between offensive factors like acid, pepsin and defensive factors like nitric oxide and growth factors. The clinical evaluation of antiulcer drugs showed tolerance, incidence of relapses and side-effects that make their efficacy arguable. An indigenous drug like Musa sapientum possessing fewer side-effects is the major thrust area of present day research, aiming at a better and safer approach for the management of PUD.Material and Methods:The unripe plantain bananas (Musa sapientum) were shade-dried, powdered and used for phytochemical analysis and as antiulcer drug. In our present study Group I rats served as control and were treated with saline, Group II was indomethacin-induced ulcerated rats, Group III received aqueous extract of Musa sapientum along with indomethacin and Group IV received esomeprazole along with indomethacin for 21 days. The anti-ulcerogenic activity was investigated by performing hematological, mucosal, antioxidant profile in comparison with the standard drug esomeprazole.Results:Our findings from High - Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) analysis showed that Musa sapientum has an active compound a monomeric flavonoid (leucocyanidin) with anti-ulcerogenic activity. Results were expressed as mean ± SD. All our results are in congruous with the results of standard drug esomeprazole.Conclusion:It could be clearly concluded that administration of the aqueous extract of Musa sapientum at the dose used in this study tends to ameliorate ulcers. Its use in indigenous medicine should be scientifically scrutinized with further research.

Introduction: Identification of novel natural antioxidant compounds is a highly demanding avenue of therapy for oxidative stress induced diseases. The bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum commonly known as Ceylon cinnamon is commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine. Method: In this study, the methanolic extract of bark was subjected to GC-MS, UV absorption and TLC techniques to analyze the presence and to elucidate the structure of proanthocyanidins present in the bark. In the latter part of the study, chemdraw structure of the identified procyanidin B 2 was subjected to in silico molecular drug docking analysis using GOLD to find out its inhibiting efficacy against NF-κB (1NFI). Results: The phytochemical analysis supported the presence of a proanthocyanidin compound, procyanidin B 2 . The constitutive or aberrant activation of the transcription factor, NF-κB pathway is often noticed in many cancers, autoimmune disorders, pulmonary, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and skin diseases. The docking of procyanidin B 2 with NF-κB revealed its inhibiting efficacy by binding to active site of NF-κB and thus could inhibited the nuclear translocation and DNA binding of p50/p65 heterodimer to κB DNA sequences. Conclusions: Thus, procyanidin B 2 can act as the inhibitor for NF-κB. So, procyanidin B 2 present in C. zeylanicum bark can be used as a potential lead compound for drug development against cancer and other oxidative stress disorders.

Objective: In the present study, evaluation of hepatoprotective activity of Coix lacryma-jobi by CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity test, and evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity of by egg albumin-induced paw edema, and complete Freund’s adjuvant-induced arthritis model were done.Methods: Plant extract was prepared by mixing ethanol with powdered plant seeds and experiment was done as per the procedures of above-mentioned three models.Results: C. lacryma-jobi test extracts out of two doses, 400 mg/kg exhibited a significant reduction in serum cholesterol level as 33 mg/dl when compared to control groups. C. lacryma-jobi seed extract has restored various serological alterations following CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity and was capable of reversing the toxic effects of CCl4 on liver cells. Considerable reduction in the paw volume of exudates observed with C. lacryma-jobi extract, indicating significant anti-inflammatory activity.Conclusion: Therefore, this study shows that C. lacryma-jobs seed extract have anti-inflammatory activity in the models studied.

Medicinal plants are used to produce new antimicrobial drugs due to increased bacterial resistance of antibiotics. The plant Pedilanthus tithymaloides said to possesses the wide range of medicinal properties which were confirmed through previous studies. The present study was to determine its antimicrobial activity using its leaves extract and also analysing whether their phytochemical constituents are responsible for its anti-microbial activities. Pedilanthus tithymaloides leaves extract was obtained and tested for antimicrobial activities and analysed for the presence of chemical constituents by preliminary phytochemical analysis and by FTIR analysis. The antimicrobial susceptibility studies were conducted against gram (-) bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and gram (+) bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. The current result supports the medicinal use of the leaf which acts as an antimicrobial agent. However further studies are needed to isolate the active compound from the leaf and to study the antimicrobial activity of that active compound.