Neurotoxicity is a serious health problem of patients chronically exposed to arsenic. There is no specific treatment of this problem. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathological process of neurotoxicity. Polyphenolics have proven antioxidant activity, thereby offering protection against oxidative stress. In this study, we have isolated the polyphenolics from Acacia nilotica and investigated its effect against arsenic-induced neurotoxicity and oxidative stress in mice. Acacia nilotica polyphenolics prepared from column chromatography of the crude methanol extract using diaion resin contained a phenolic content of 452.185 ± 7.879 mg gallic acid equivalent/gm of sample and flavonoid content of 200.075 ± 0.755 mg catechin equivalent/gm of sample. The polyphenolics exhibited potent antioxidant activity with respect to free radical scavenging ability, total antioxidant activity and inhibition of lipid peroxidation. Administration of arsenic in mice showed a reduction of acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain which was counteracted by Acacia nilotica polyphenolics. Similarly, elevation of lipid peroxidation and depletion of glutathione in the brain of mice was effectively restored to normal level by Acacia nilotica polyphenolics. Gallic acid methyl ester, catechin and catechin-7-gallate were identified in the polyphenolics as the major active compounds. These results suggest that Acacia nilotica polyphenolics due to its strong antioxidant potential might be effective in the management of arsenic induced neurotoxicity.

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Wedelia chinensis is a folk medicine used in many Asian countries to treat various ailments. Earlier investigations reported that the petroleum ether extract of the plant has potential biological activity, but the compounds responsible for activity are not yet completely known. Therefore, the current work was designed to isolate and characterize the compounds from the petroleum ether extract and to study their bioactivities. Four compounds including two diterepenes (-) kaur-16α-hydroxy-19-oic acid (1) and (-) kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (2), and two steroids β-sitosterol (3), and cholesta-5,23-dien-3-ol (4) were isolated and characterized. Among the compounds, the diterpenes were found to have more biological activities than the steroidal compounds. Compound 1 showed the highest cytotoxicity with LC50 of 12.42 ± 0.87 μg/mL. Likewise, it possesses good antioxidant activity in terms of reducing power. On the contrary, compound 2 exerted the highest antiacetylcholinesterase and antibutyrylcholinesterase activity. Both the diterpenes showed almost similar antibacterial and antifungal activity. The identification of diterpenoid and steroid compounds with multifunctional activities suggests that W. chinensis may serve as an important source of bioactive compounds which should be further investigated in animal model for therapeutic potential in the treatment of different chronic diseases.

Inflammation is implicated in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Vanda roxburghii R. Br. is used as folk medicine in the treatment of various ailments and diseases including inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis and neurological disorders. We reported earlier that the plant possesses anti-inflammatory activity and the activity is high in the chloroform fraction among other fractions tested. Therefore, the present work was designed to isolate the compounds from the chloroform fraction responsible for anti-inflammatory activity. Four compounds namely syringaldehyde (1), vanillin (2), dihydroconiferyl dihydro-p-coumarate and (3) and gigantol (4) were isolated and purified using chromatographic methods. The isolated compounds were identified by analysis of their NMR spectral data. The compounds were evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity using carrageenan-induced hind paw edema model in mice. All the compounds showed significant activity at a dose of 100 mg/kg. Among the compounds, gigantol displayed the highest activity which was comparable to the activity of the standard drug indomethacin. At the same dose the other three compounds syringaldehyde, vanillin and dihydroconiferyl dihydro-p-coumarate exhibited similar activity. These results suggest that the isolated compounds from the chloroform fraction have potential anti-inflammatory activity that might be useful in the prevention and treatment of AD. Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 26(1): 1-6, 2023 (January)

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