Comparative Pharmacological and Biological Evaluation of the Stem and Leaves of Hedera nepalensis from District Malakand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Plants are the prime source of medicine and are used for the treatment of various diseases globaly. About 70% percent of Pakistani population is dependent on medicinal plants. During this study, Hedera nepalensis K. Koch (Araliaceae) was thoroughly screened for its natural products, bioloigical and pharmacological activities. The phytochemicals analysis showed that 3 gm of crude exract from leaves of H. nepalensis contain about 3.2 mg/L of carbohydrates, 2.7 mg/L of proteins, 8.9 mg/L of saponins, 0.7 mg/L of alkaloids, 2.5mg/L of tanins, 2.1 mg/L of flavonoids, 2.8 mg/L of terpenoids, 0.3 mg/L of phenolic compounds and 1.9 mg/L of phytosterols, while 3 gm of crude exract of the stem showed 1.3 mg/L of carbohydrates, 1.9 mg/L of proteins, 0.6 mg/L of saponins, 0.7 mg/L of alkaloids, 3.4 mg/L of a tanins, 0.76 mg/L of a flavonoids, 0.31 mg/L of terpenoids, 0.9 mg/L of phenolic compounds and 0.84 mg/L of phytosterols. The highest content of ash in the leaves was calculated as 34.7% and for stem 23.5 %. The free radical scavenging activity of extracts of stem and leaves of H. nepalensis were restrained in terms of hydrogen donating or radical scavenging ability using the stable radical 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydazyl (DPPH) and hydrogen peroxide. Higher free radical scavenging activity was confirmed by low value of absorbance. The DPPH radical scavenging for leaves showed 50, 54.54, 47.27, 60, and 70.90 scavenging activity respectively, while for stem it exhibited 50, 77, 74, 20.66 and 72 scavenging activity respectively. The hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity was studied at the absorbance of 285 nm with average time of 10 minutes incubation for leaves of methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, DCM, petroleum ether extracts with concentration of 0.1 mg/ml exhibited 51.81, 58.18, 42.72, 46.36 and 26.36 respectively, While the stem showed 61, 53, 34.02, 31 and 45.13 respectively. The heavy metals analysis for the leaves of H. nepalensis revealed the presence of 140.41 mg/L of Iron (Fe), 12.09 mg/L of Manganese (Mn), 56.51 mg/L of lead (Pb), 3.7 mg/L of zinc (Zn), 1.85 mg/L of copper (Cu), 1.35 mg/L of nickel (Ni), 0.24 of Cadmium (Cd) and 0.37 mg/L of Chromium (Cr) while the stem showed 156.43 mg/L of Iron (Fe), 123.79 mg/L of Manganese (Mn), 156.43 mg/L of lead (Pb), 20.41 mg/L of zinc (Zn), 6.99 mg/L of copper (Cu), 4.51 mg/L of nickel (Ni), 0.33 mg/L of Cadmium (Cd) while the stem failed to show Chromium (Cr) presence. Antibacterial activity of methanol, ethanol, n-hexane, petroleum, ether and chloroform extract of leaves and stem extracts of H. nepalensis was studied against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella sonnei, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Erwinia cartovara, Bacillus atrophaeus, Citrobacter freundii, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Agrobacterium tumefacians. Similarly, antifungal activity of methanol, ethanol, n-hexane, petroleum, ether and chloroform extract of leaves and stem extracts of Hedera nepalensis was studied against Alternaria alternate, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium notatum, Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma harzianum and Candida albican. The highest value of 36 mm of inhibition zone was produced against Bacillus subtillus by methanol extract of H. nepalensis followed by 38 mm of inhibition zone against Klebsiella pneumonia and Escherichia coli by methanol and ethanol extract of H. nepalensis. The ethanolic extract of H. nepalensis was found to kill rabbits at the dose rate of 7.88 g/kg body weight. The multiple oral administration of the tested doses of ethanolic leaf extracts at the dose rate of 200 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, Vitamin C (positive control) and glibinclamide (20 mg/kg b/wt.), at seventh, fourteenth, twenty first, and twenty eighth day post administration considerably reduced the levels of blood glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, bilirubin, globulin, A/G ratio, GCI level, creatinine, ALP, GGT, ALT, AST, AST/ALT ratio while increased the total proteins and albumin whereas stem extract of H. nepalensis showed non significant change in blood glucose level, cholesterol, triglyceride, bilirubin, globulin, A/G ratio, GCI level, creatinine, ALP, GGT, ALT, AST, AST/ ALT ratio, total proteins and albumin. It is concluded that leaves of H. nepalensis have strong capacity to cure various infectious and non infectious diseases.