IN VITRO AND IN VIVO PHARMACOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF POLYGONUM PERSICARIA L.

The present study was designed to investigate the in vitro antioxidant, cytotoxic, anthelmintic and in vivo analgesic, anti-diarrheal, hypoglycemic and CNS anti-depressant properties of different solvent fractions of methanol extract of leaf and flower of Polygonum persicaria L., a notable medicinal plant in Bangladesh. The crude methanol extracts were partitioned separately to petroleum-ether, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and aqueous fractions. In DPPH scavenging assay for antioxidant test, the aqueous fraction of flower extract showed maximum antioxidant activity with IC50 of 0.60 mu g/ml. Most of the fractions revealed prominent lethality (LC50) against brine shrimp nauplii. The test samples also exhibited dose-dependent anthelmintic activity against Pheretima posthuma. The leaf extract and flower extract (200-and 400 mg/kg b.w.) can decrease the painful sensation in mice. Leaf extracts and flower extracts displayed 57.69 and 50% reduction of diarrhea induced by castor oil in mice, respectively. The plant samples exhibited hypoglycemic effect and CNS anti-depressant effect in mice. Based on the possibility of bioactivity, the plant can be thoroughly examined to determine its potential efficacy and to support its traditional uses.