Introduction: Tiliacora triandra (F. Menispermaceae) is edible and is also known for medicinal values. The leaves are a popular flavoring in Southeast Asia, especially in the northeast of Thailand. The objectives of this study were to determine the major constituents of the leaves of T. triandra, and assess their anticancer activities against human cancer cell lines. Methods: The leaves were extracted by a soxhlet apparatus with petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and water. Major constituents were then purified and identified using chromatographic procedures and various spectroscopic techniques. In vitro anticancer activity tests of T. triandra extracts were performed by resazurinmicroplate assay (REMA), and tested with 3 cell lines: oral cavity cancer (KB), lung cancer (NCI-H187) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines. Results: The result indicated that the main compound of T. triandra leaves was oxoanolobine. The methanol extract showed the highest cytotoxic activity against lung cancer (NCI-H187) cell line whereas the water extract exhibited the highest activity against oral cavity cancer (KB) cell line. The IC 50 of oxoanolobine against the NCI-H187 cell line was 27.60 ± 4.30 µg/mL. Conclusion: T. triandra leaves contain oxoanolobine as the major constituent and have the potential of anticancer activity but are required to be investigated further.

Background: Tiliacora triandra is a common plant found in southeast Asian countries. It is traditionally used as anti-pyrogenic agent. Objective: The present study was aimed to investigate the hypoglycemic activities leaf extracts from Tiliacora triandra (TTE) in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Methods: TTE was prepared and daily and orally administered at dose of 300 mg/kg b.w. to the rats for 8 weeks. The body weight and blood glucose level were measured weekly. At the end of the experiments, blood samples were collected from cardiac puncture and analyzed for serum insulin levels. The pancreatic tissues were stained by hematoxylin-eosin for histo-pathological investigations. Results: Normal and diabetic rats treated with TTE and glibenclamide tended to have an increased body weight. TTE significantly decreased the blood glucose level by 25.01 ± 19.77% in week 3 in diabetic rats and similar to that of glibenclamide group (27.01 ± 11.89%). However, the extracts slightly decreased the blood glucose level in normal rats by 9.48 ± 2.14% in week 2. TTE significantly increased serum insulin level by 21.63 ± 1.39 IU/mL in diabetic rats compared to the controls (10.63 ± 0.37 IU/mL) but not in normal rats. In additions, TTE activated the regeneration of pancreatic Islets of Langerhans in diabetic rats which in turn stimulated insulin secretion. Conclusion: TTE exhibits the hypoglycemic potential by stimulating insulin secretion from the pancreas.

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Background:The silkworm powder from Japanese and Korean races has a high biological activity. However, there was less scientific evidence regarding bioactivities in Thai silkworm races. Objective: This research was interested in toxicity and antioxidant activities of Thai silkworm races. Material and methods: The 5 th instar, 3 rd day of growth stage of Thai traditional silkworm (Nanglai, Nangnoi and Samrong races) were lyophilized by freeze dryer and ground as silkworm powder. The acute and sub-acute toxicities studies were carried out in male Wistar rats. The antioxidant capacities of silkworm powder were investigated with DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods. Results: The acute toxicity in rats by single dose oral administration show that the high dose at a concentration of 2,000 mg/kg b.w. did not have toxicity in rats. The sub-acute toxicity in rats by oral administration showed that the high dose concentration at 2,000 mg/kg body weight for 6 weeks had no toxicity in all group either. In addition, the hematological parameters and lipid profiles of treated group and control groups were not significantly different. The antioxidant study showed that silkworm powders were not significant difference in all groups of samples in three assays (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP). However, significant difference had been found in comparison to ascorbic acid (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Silkworm powder from three races of Thai silkworm did not produce any toxicity in male rats. In addition, the silkworm powder also exhibited antioxidant activities.

Asparagus racemosus (AR) wild., (Family: Liliaceae), commonly known as shatavari, satawar or satmuli, is found in all over India, and is commonly known in Thailand as sam-sib or rak-sam-sib. In Ayurveda, the dried root of AR is used as a tonic, galactogogue, aphrodisiac, rejuvenator, antispasmodic, antiulcerous and anti-inflammatory agent. Steroidal saponins and sapogeninsare the pharmacological value of the AR root. 1-2 Antioxytocic activities, antihepatotoxic, hepatopathy, dyspepsia and dysentery are the uses of the root of AR for treatment. 1 Recent reports on AR indicate that the root extracts show antioxidant and antidiarrheal activities in animal models. 3-4 Phytoanalysis of the AR root composition by Visavadiya et al. 5 found phytosterols 0.79%, saponins 8.83%, polyphenols 1.69%, flavonoids 0.47% and total ascorbic acid 0.76%. AR contains alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, phenols, terpenes, polysaccharides and steroids. 5 AR root extract was found to contain flavonoids, polyphenols and vitamin C, which were found to exhibit the greatest antioxidant activity. A phytoestrogenic effect of AR root extracts has recently been found as well as antidiarrhoeal, antidyspepsia, adaptogenic, cardioprotective, antibacterial, immune adjuvant and antitussive effects. The methanolic and aqueous extracts of AR roots have been produced in Antioxidant Activities of Ethanolic and Aqueous Extracts of Asparagus racemosus Roots Background: Asparagus racemosus (AR) is commonly known as shatavari, satawar or satmuli in India and in Thailand it is call sam-sib or rak-sam-sib. The dried root of AR is used in Ayurveda as an antiulcerous and antiinflammatory and has medicinal/pharmacological value. Objective: To investigate the antioxidant activities of Asparagus racemosus root extracts via total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of ethanolic and aqueous extracts. Methods: Antioxidant capacity measurements were carried out by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method and the aluminum chloride colorimetric method, respectively. Results: The ethanolic extract possessed higher antioxidant capacities than the aqueous extract in the three antioxidant assays (p<0.05).These results have shown high phenolic and flavonoid contents. The ethanolic extract of AR root possessed higher amounts of phenolic and flavonoid contents than the aqueous extract. Conclusion: The antioxidant capacity of the ethanolic extract was higher than that in the aqueous extract. .