Search Articles

Home / Articles

Pharmacological evaluation of Alternanthera pungens Kunth for its antipyretic, analgesic, and antispasmodic activities

. Hashma, Hussan Ara Begum, Naseem Rafiq, Humera Shamshad & Behram Ali


Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacological, phytochemical, and antioxidant potential of Alternanthera pungens Kunth. The ethanolic extract of the plant was used for evaluating its pharmacological, phytochemical, and antioxidant activities. In the antipyretic activity test, the ethanolic extract at a concentration of 300mg/kg reduced the temperature to 97.33b±0.48 °C from 100.0b±0.83 after four hours, compared to the standard drug (paracetamol) that reduced the temperature to 99.37c±0.15 from 103.3c±0.33. In the analgesic activity test, the extract at a concentration of 300mg/kg reduced the amount of writhing to 6a±1.45297 every five minutes, with an 86.04% inhibition, compared to the standard drug aspirin that reduced writhing to 8a±.57735, with an inhibition of 81.39%. In the antispasmodic activity test, the ethanolic extract showed significant results with 76.90% inhibition at a dose of 300mg/kg, while the standard drug (atropine sulphate) showed 94.15% inhibition. The qualitative investigation revealed that the ethanolic extract of Alternanthera pungens contained proteins, carbohydrates, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, tannins, saponins, glycosides, and steroids, while terpenoids were absent. In the quantitative analysis, the ethanolic extract at a concentration of 150µg/ml showed the highest amount of phenolic content (4.18bc±0.66), and the maximum flavonoid content was 4.66c±0.66.

Key words: pharmacological, phytochemical, antipyretic, analgesic, Alternenthera Pungens, medicinal plants, qualitative, antioxidant.

Download :