In-vitro and in-vivo pharmacological screening of Iris Albican

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the anti-oxidant, enzyme inhibition, anti-pyretic, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic activities of Iris albicans.

Methods: Anti-oxidant assay was evaluated using DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging and ABTS (2, 2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) inhibitory protocol while enzyme inhibitory assay was evaluated by lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitory protocol respectively. Antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic potential was evaluated using brewer's yeast induced pyrexia, carrageenan induced paw edema and streptozocin induced diabetes protocols respectively. Serum biochemical parameters were monitored for the period of study.

Results: The anti-oxidant activity of chloroform fraction of Iris albicans showed the highest scavenging potential against DPPH and ABTS while the maximum inhibitory action recorded against lipo-oxygenase and cyclooxygenase-2 enzymes was shown by n-hexane and chloroform fractions respectively. The anti-pyretic potential of the crude methanolic extract showed dose dependent activity in reducing pyrexia, thereby when the dose was increased the anti-pyretic effect was also enhanced. The anti-inflammatory action of the crude methanolic extract administered at the dose of 300 mg/kg was significant at 1 h after its administration, which was found maintained up to 5 h. Similarly the anti-diabetic effect of the crude methanolic extract administered at the dose of 200 and 300 mg/kg was noted highly significant at day 6 and was found well maintained throughout the study time period up to 10 days. Significant (P < 0.001) improvement appeared in hemoglobin, protein, cholesterol, triglycerides, urea, creatinine, HDL and LDL of extract treated diabetic mice.

Conclusion: From this data it could be concluded that Iris albicans have significant anti-oxidant, enzyme inhibition, ant-pyretic, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic potential.

Keywords: Anti-inflammatory agent; Antioxidant; Antipyretic; Hypoglycemic agent; Iris Albican.

Figure 1. Anti-pyretic activity of Iris albicans crude extract using brewer’s yeast induced pyrexia model

Positive control group received paracetamol (150 mg/kg), while sample groups received crude extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) respectively. Each bar shows percent pyrexia inhibition (rectal) compared to vehicle control and ^aP ˂ 0.0001,^bP ˂ 0.05 , ^cP ˂ 0.01 (one way analysis of variance followed by Dunnett’s post hoc analysis).

Figure 2. Percent inhibition potential of edema induced by Carrageenan

Positive control group received aspirin (150 mg/kg, i.p.), while sample groups received crude extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg, i.p.) respectively. i.p: intraperitoneal injection. Represents the the mean ± standard error of mean (SEM) of n = 5 and values significant from control at ^aP ˂ 0.01, ^bP ˂ 0.05 and ^cP ˂ 0.0001 using one way analysis of variance followed by Dunnett’s post hoc analysis.

Figure 3. Effect of crude extract of Iris albicans in streptozocin induced diabetes

Positive control group received metformin (25 mg/kg, i.p.), while sample groups received extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg, i.p.) respectively. i.p: intraperitoneal injection; STZ: streptozotocin. d: the highest level of glucose in the blood. Values are expressed as mean blood glucose in mg/dL ± standard error of mean. P < 0.001 compared to that of control ( group), ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001 in comparison to the streptozotocin (STZ) only administered diabetic control group (two-way analysis of variance, followed by post hoc Bonferroni's multiple comparison test), n = 6 mice per group.