Kubsad Parameshwarappa Channabasavaraj’s research while affiliated with S. J. Thakkar Pharmacy College and other places

The leaves of Coccinia indica (Family: Cucurbitaceae) are sweet, acrid, cooling, and astringent to the bowels, cures kapha and pitta. It is cultivated in Africa and Asia particularly in India used as a vegetable. A diethyl ether extract of the leaves was studied for hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride induced liver toxicity in rats. The results shownhepatoprotective activity of Coccinia indica leave extract at dose 400 mg/kg body weight was comparable with standard treatment 125 mg/kg body weight of silymarin, a known hepatoprotective drug. These data also supplement for histopathological study of rat liver section.

Sixteen methanol extracts from thirteen medicinal plants collected from Western Ghats, India, were screened for in vitro. antioxidant activity using different models. The methanol extract of C. aromaticus. was found to be more active with low IC50 value in most of the methods. The extracts of A. indica., C. arietinum., M. alba., O. dillenii., P. procumbens., S. androgynus., and S. oenopila. showed potent antioxidant activity against ABTS free radicals. Potent activity was observed for the extracts of B. calicynum. against DPPH free radicals and for the extracts of O. dillenii. and C. aromaticus. in the lipid peroxidation assay. Many of the extracts showed high total phenol content. The leaf extract of C. aromaticus. merits further investigation in animal models.

The present study was carried out to evaluate Ficus glomerata extracts for antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties. The methanol extract of the bark of F. glomerata showed potent in vitro antioxidant activity when compared to the root methanol extract. In the in vivo studies, the CCl(4) treated control rats showed a significant alteration in the levels of antioxidant and hepatoprotective parameters. The methanol extract of the bark when given orally along with CCl(4) at the doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight showed a significant reversal of these biochemical changes towards the normal when compared to CCl(4)-treated control rats in serum, liver and kidney. The results were comparable to those observed for standard sylimarin. Histological studies also confirmed the same. The results indicated the potent hepatoprotective and antioxidant nature of the bark extract.