EVALUATION OF THE TOXICITY AND ANTIOXIDANT PROFILES OF METHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT AND FRACTIONS OF DIAPHANANTHE BIDENS
IMMACULETA CHIKAMNELE UMEYOR1,*, OGBUE CYRIL ONYEKA1 , ONWUZULIGBO
CHUKWUEBUKA CUKWUEZUGOLUM1 , CHUKWUEBUKA EMMANUEL UMEYOR2 , FELIX
AHAMUFULE ONYEGBULE 3 , FESTUS BASDEN CHIEDU OKOYE3
- Department of Pharmacognosy and Traditional Medicine, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
- Nanomedicines and Drug Delivery Research Unit, Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology,
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
Afr. J Pharm Res Dev; Volume 13(1): 097-108 (2021)
ABSTRACT
Oxidative stress has been reported to be involved in the development and progression of many diseases. This
study was carried out to evaluate the toxicity and antioxidant profiles of Diaphananthe bidens. Powdered leaves of bidens were extracted in methanol by cold maceration and fractionated into n-hexane, ethylacetate and butanol
fractions. In vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) while catalase
(CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) assays were used to evaluate the in vivo
antioxidant activity. The median lethal dose (LD50) of CME and serum liver maker (SLM) enzymes were analyzed
following standard protocols. The crude methanol extract (CME) and fractions showed concentration-dependent
in vitro antioxidant activity with ethylacetate fraction (EAF) showing the highest activity (EC50 value of 31.11 µg/ml)
which is close to that of the positive control (15.2 µg/ml). The EAF and butanol fraction (BF) at 500 mg/kg showed
more than 3-fold increase in CAT and SOD activities compared with the positive control group, ascorbic acid. EAF
significantly (p<0.05) inhibited LPO in all the fractions. LD50 of CME even at a maximum test dose of 5,000 mg/kg,
recorded no mortality, and the fractions did not produce significant (p<0.05) alteration of SLM enzymes. The study
revealed that the extract and fractions D. bidens have excellent safety and antioxidant profiles.
Email of correspondence: chikaleta@gmail.com
KEYWORDS: Diaphananthe bidens; Oxidative stress; Antioxidant; Liver enzymes; Toxicity