Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION AND ASSESSMENT OF IN VIVO AND IN VITRO PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF BLUMEA LACERA (BURM.F.) DC.

Md. Areeful Haque*, A.T.M. Mostafa Kamal, Kazi Ashfak Ahmed Chowdhury, Md. Irfan Amin Chowdury, Mohammad Forhadul Hassan and Anaytulla

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate different in vivo & in vitro biological activities and phytoconstituents of methanolic leaf extract of Blumea lacera (Burm.f.) DC. The leaves of Blumea lacera are used ethnomedically across various regions of India, Asia Minor, Philippines, West Africa as well as some rural areas of Bangladesh without scientific basis or safety concerns. Determination of its phytochemical constituents, in vivo and in vitro pharmacological properties will provide supportive scientific evidence in favor of its continuous usage. Methanolic leaves extract of Blumea lacera was assessed with the Swiss albino mice to evaluate in vivo antidiarrheal activity. Tubifex worms (Panagrellus redevises) were used to evaluate in vitro anthelmintic effect. It has been evaluated as antidiarrheal agent compared to Loperamide, as a standard drug. The 400mg/kg concentration in both case of testing showed closely percentage (40.275%) to Loperamide (62.068%). The extract showed remarkable anthelmintic properties compared to Levamisole, as a standard drug. These findings demonstrate that methanolic leaves extract of Blumea lacera have considerable antidiarrheal and anthelmintic property. There were remarkable amount of pharmacologically active constituents e.g. alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoid, steroid, carbohydrate, cardiac glycoside and resin. Thus, which compounds is responsible for the present pharmacological actions and to know their mechanism of action, extensive pharmacological and phytochemical experiments are essential.

Keywords: Blumea lacera, antidiarrheal activity, anthelmintic activity, phytochemical investigation, tubifex worms.