RESUMEN
Hymenocardia acida (H. acida) is an African well-known shrub recognized for numerous medicinal properties, including its cancer management potential. The advent of nanotechnology in delivering bioactive medicinal plant extract with poor solubility has improved the drug delivery system, for a better therapeutic value of several drugs from natural origins. This study aimed to evaluate the anticancer properties of H. acida using human lung (H460), breast (MCF-7), and colon (HCT 116) cancer cell lines as well as the production, characterization, and cytotoxicity study of H. acida loaded into PLGA nanoparticles. Benchtop models of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Raniceps ranninus were used for preliminary toxicity evaluation. Notable cytotoxic activity in benchtop models and human cancer cell lines was observed for H. acida crude extract. The PLGA nanoparticles loading H. acida had a size of about 200 nm and an association efficiency of above 60%, making them suitable to be delivered by different routes. The outcomes from this research showed that H. acida has anticancer activity as claimed from an ethnomedical point of view; however, a loss in activity was noted upon encapsulation, due to the sustained release of the drug.
RESUMEN
Objectives: Male infertility has been associated with oxidative stress-induced and/or microbial induced in some men. The use of medicinal plants to overcome oxidative stress-induced infertility cannot be over emphasized. Hence, the aim of this research was to isolate the antilipid peroxidation (an index of usage for treating oxidative stress-induced male infertility) bioactive principle from Momordica charantia using bioactivity-guided isolation. Materials and Methods: n-Hexane fraction from the crude ethanol extract obtained by Soxhlet extraction of aerial parts (without fruit) of bitter melon, M. charantia, was assessed for in vitro lipid peroxidation, followed by bioactivity-guided isolation of bioactive principles using in vitro lipid peroxidation as an index of aphrodisiac and male fertility enhancer. Results: Fractionation of the active n-hexane fraction using vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) gave five pooled fractions on the basis of their thin layer chromatography (TLC) characteristics (n-hexane: EtOAc, 2:3, sulphuric acid spray). In vitro activity of the most active VLC fraction C was less than that of the positive control, vitamin E. Further fractionation of VLC-C by open column chromatography on silica gel led to the isolation of a compound which was purified by preparative-TLC. The purified compound, 10 mg/mL (Rf 0.54, TLC silica gel, n-hexane: ethyl acetate; 2:3) was equipotent with vitamin E (25 mg/mL) in reducing peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in vitro. Structural elucidation by NMR (1H, 13C) and mean mass spectroscopy confirmed the identity of the new bioactive compound as 13, 14-epoxyoleanan-3-ol-acetate. Conclusion: This study scientifically validates the traditional claim of M. charantia as an aphrodisiac or male fertility enhancer and suggests that 13, 14-epoxyoleanan-3-ol-acetate might be responsible for the observed activity.
RESUMEN
Milicia excelsa (Moraceae) plant is used as an antidiarrheal agent in ethnomedicine but there is no scientific rationale for its claim. Hence, this study examined the acute toxicity (LD50) and anti-diarrheal effect of methanol root bark extract of Milicia excelsa per oral in rats as well as the probable phytoconstituents responsible for this effect. The LD50 was>5000 mg/kg, suggesting its safety. The extract significantly (p<0.05) reduced the total number of feces and wet feces in castor oil-induced diarrhea with percentage inhibitions of 41.36 and 50.88% at 200 and 400 mg/kg respectively; it also significantly (p<0.05) reduced the distance travelled by charcoal in a dose dependent manner with percentage inhibitions of 33.85, 43.07 and 50.76% at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg respectively in gastrointestinal motility test indicating anti-diarrheal potentials. The extract significantly (p<0.05) reduced the intestinal fluid accumulation with percentage inhibitions of 33.28 and 45.61% at 200 and 400 mg/kg respectively, suggesting antisecretory effect. Furthermore, the extract significantly (p<0.05) inhibited the intestinal propulsion of the charcoal meal through the gastrointestinal tract in castor oil-induced gastrointestinal transit suggesting antimotility effect. Total flavonoids and tannins are the most abundant phytoconstituents therein. This study therefore concluded that the anti-diarrhea action of the extract may at least in part be mediated via antisecretory and antimotility mechanisms, which could be due to the additive, synergy or counter interaction of the phytoconstituents therein, thus supporting its ethnomedicinal claim.