Zeitschrift für Molekulare Pharmazeutik und organische Prozessforschung

Abstrakt

Neuropharmacological, Analgesic,Antidiarrheal and Antimicrobial Activities ofMethanolic Extract of Ziziphus mauritiana Leaves (Rhamnaceae)

Md. Hamiduzzaman, A.S.M. Moniruzzaman Sarkar, Mohammad Jamal Hossain, and Abdur Rashid

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to guage
theneuropharmacological, analgesic, antidiarrheal and
antimicrobialactivity of methanolic crude extract of
Ziziphus mauritiana leaves inmice model. After
collection of leaves it was washed, sun dried andmade
coarse powder. It was soaked in methanol for several
days andextracted at room temperature. Dried
methanolic extract was partitioned into pet ether,
carbon tetrachloride, chloroform andaqueous soluble
fractions. Among all the fractions, methanolicextract
at a dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight revealed
27.6and 29.6 minutes of onset of sleeping; 79 and 89.8
minutes of totalsleeping time where control group
showed 15.8 minutes of onset ofsleeping and 118.6
minutes of total sleeping time. Besides crudeextract at
a dose of 400 mg/kg weight significantly inhibited the
pain sensation at 48.55%, 57.77% and 61.44% after
30, 60 and 90minutes with reference to standard
morphine, revealed antidiarrhealactivity by reducing
52.02% of diarrhea comparing with standarddrug
loperamide (50 mg/kg body wt) having 67.24% of
reduction ofdiarrhea and crude extract and its different
fractions inhibited the bacterial growth starting from
6.5 to 18.8 mm against gram positive bacteria, 6.2 to
17.9 mm against gram negative bacteria and seven .4
to14.7 mm against fungi compared with standard
ciprofloxacin.
Folk medicinal practices are verycommon in
Bangladesh. Besides herbalmedicine practice is also
increasing day byday due to fewer side effects.
Bangladesh isa good source for medicinal plants
which is providing a reliable source of
medicinallyimportant secondary metabolites. Based
ondifferent traditional uses, one of the plantspecies of
Rhamnaceae family wasundertaken to evaluate
different biological properties in laboratory.
Ziziphusmauritiana, also referred to as Kul or Boroi in
Bangladesh, Chinee Apple, Jujube, Indian plum and
Masau may be a tropical fruit treespecies belonging to
the familyRhamnaceae.
It is a common plant in ourcountry. Extensive
investigation showed thatthis species revealed important
biologicalactivities such as antioxidant
activity,antimicrobial activity, antiinflammatoryactivity,
anxiolytic property, antidiabetic
activity.Leaves of Ziziphus mauritianawerecollected
from Gazipur district, Dhaka,Bangladesh in February,
2013. This plant wasidentified by botanists of the
BotanyDepartment of Dhaka University. Thereference
sample for the plant was DUSH,Accession Number
4257 and calls no 01.Swiss albino mice of either sex,
aged4-5 weeks were the experimental animal andwere
obtained from the Animal ResourceBranch of the
International Centre forDiarrheal Diseases and Research,
Bangladesh(ICDDR, B). Institution of Animal
EthicalCommittee which was maintained by Facultyof
Biological Science, University of Dhakagave approval
for this project to collect andutilize Swiss albino mice as
experimental animal. The approval reference number
was Ref-DU/BD/IACE-A143. They were kept
instandard environmental condition and fedICDDR, B
formulated rodent food and water.Experimental animals
were collected, handledand kept by following standard
protocol basedon the ethical committee of our university
In order to administer the crudeextract at doses of 200
and 400 mg/kg bodyweight of mice, 50 and 100 mg of
the driedextract were measured respectively and
weretriturated unidirectional way by the additionof small
amount of suspending agents Tween-80. After proper
mixing of extract andsuspending agent, normal saline
was slowlyadded and made 2.5 ml. Water for
injectionwas added with morphine to dilute it so that0.3
ml of the diluted solution will have 10 mg/kg body
weight of morphine.
Neuropharmacological activity The methanolic crude
extracts of Z.mauritianaleaves potentate the
phenobarbitone induced sleeping time in adose
dependent manner. Methanolic extract ata dose of 200
and 400 mg/kg body weightrevealed 27.6 and 29.6
minutes of onset ofsleeping; 79 and 89.8 minutes of totalsleeping time where control group showed15.8
minutes of onset of sleeping and 118.6minutes of total
sleeping time.
Methanolic crude extract ofZ.mauritianaleaves
induced the sleeping timei.e. hypnotic effect induced
by the phenobarbitone sodium in a dose
dependentmanner which suggests a profile of
sedativeactivity. Crude extract probably possesses
benzodiazepines and related compounds that bind to
the receptors in the CNS to stimulatethe sedative
effect recorded here. Thisexperimental findings from
the study showedthat the crude extract of Z.
mauritianaleaveshave moderate sedative activity in
mice whichsuggests its central depressant
activityAnalgesic activity of crudemethanolic leaves
extract of
Z. mauritianawas evaluated by following radiant heat
tail-flick method. The crude extract
effectivelyelongates the reaction time in a
dosedependent manner. Methanolic crude extractat a
dose of 400 mg/kg body weightsignificantly inhibited
the pain sensation at48.55%, 57.77% and 61.44% after
30, 60 and90 minutes later in comparable
standardmorphine at a dose of 10 mg/kg body wt.
It could be concluded that crudeextract of Z.
mauritiana leaves possessesimportant metabolites that
would probablyinhibit the formation of
prostaglandins.
Keywords: Ziziphus mauritiana,
Neuropharmacological activity,Analgesic activity,
Antidiarrheal activity and Antimicrobial activity