Biological investigation of Cissus adnata

Abstract

This study provides a scientific basis for the use of Cissus adnata in traditional medicine for the first time. The plant was powdered and extracted using methanol and different partitionate were obtained using different organic solvents, viz., dichloromethane, petroleum ether, chloroform. All these fractions were subjected to in vitrobiological screening. Aqueous fraction showed maximum total phenolic content. On the other hand, chloroform extract showed the highest activity in the DPPH free radical scavenging assay, whereas, petroleum ether fraction revealed the most potent LC50 value among the partitionate used in brine shrimp lethality bioassay. Antimicrobial activity was examined by agar disc diffusion method and methanolic extract was found to be most effective against all of the gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Aqueous soluble fraction showed highest thrombolytic activity and petroleum ether revealed the highest membrane stabilizing effect, establishing the potential of using this plant as a possible source of discovering anti-coagulants and anti-inflammatory agents. Thus, this investigation might lead to the development of new drugs to treat a wide variety of diseases.