EVALUATION OF ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF FICUS BENGHALENSIS BARK

EVALUATION OF ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF FICUS BENGHALENSIS BARK

J. Hima Bindhu, R. Pradeep, N. Sneha, S. Tejaswi, P. Nikhil Patil and K. Ramanjaneyulu *

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Vishnu Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Narsapur Medak, Telangana, India.

ABSTRACT: The present study evaluated the Anthelmintic activity of Ficus benghalensis bark extract against Indian earthworm Pheretima posthuma and compared it with the standard drug Albendazole. The results showed that the extract exhibited significant Anthelmintic activity, as evidenced by the time of paralysis and time of death of worms. The extract also contained various phytochemical constituents, including Phenolics, Terpenoids and Miscellaneous constituents. The findings of this study suggest that Ficus benghalensis bark extract may be a potential natural Anthelmintic agent. This activity was concentration dependent. As the concentration increases the extract produce maximal effect. Higher concentrations of ethanolic bark extract of Ficus benghalensis produce a paralytic effect much earlier and time taken for death was shorter. It shows maximum efficacy at 75 mg/ml concentration than the standard drug. Further studies are recommended to isolate and identify the active principles responsible for its activity. This could lead to the development of new drugs for the treatment of worm infections. The study provides valuable information on the medicinal properties of Ficus benghalensis and highlights the potential of natural products as an alternative to conventional drugs for the management of parasitic infections.

Keywords: Ficus benghalensis bark, Ethanolic extract, Anthelmintic activity, Albendazole, Pheretima posthuma

INTRODUCTION: Worms are most common parasites which cause intestinal infections in both humans and cattle. Helmintic infections are caused due to worms in chronic conditions it is also leading to death mostly it is happening in cattle ¹. According to WHO reports 1.5 billion people (24% world population) are suffering from Helmintic infections ². Till 2025 it reach up to 57% of population are affected by this infections ³. Common symptoms of these infections are malnutrition, anemia and pneumonia; most of the infections are transmitted through soil.

For treatment of helmintic infections Anthelmintic drugs are used ⁴. Majority of Anthelmintic drugs available in market are Albendazole, Mebendazole, praziquantel, Albendazole is the standard drug available in market, and praziquantel is used for the treatment of intestinal, liver and lungs flukes. But majority of chemical and synthetic drugs shows side effects to avoid such adverse drug reactions and also most of the worms are developing resistance against them ⁵.

To show effective mechanism most of the population is using natural plant products by replacing chemical and synthetic drugs. Natural plant products do not have any side effects in majority of cases. Plants contain many chemical constituents which contribute for treatment of many diseases. Phytochemicals which are extracted from roots, bark, leafs, fruits and flowers of plants are used to treat many infections and disease causative organisms as they show effective mechanism against them ⁶.

[Banyan tree] Ficus benghalensis, family belongs to Moraceae; it is called with different names in various languages such as Bargad in Hindi and Urdu, fig in English, bahupada in Sanskrit ⁷. There are 800 species and 2000 varieties of Ficus genus plants ⁸. It is national plant of India and grown in various areas in India, Sri-Lanka, and in most of the areas in Pakistan. Each and every part of plant contains various medicinal values which are used in many ayurvedic preparations. Plant contains supporting roots they are useful for mechanical support and to provide strength to plant [prop roots] they grow downwards to earth. Ficus plant extracts are used for treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, diabetes, antifungal, and antibacterial, to boost immunity, to prevent tooth decay. This plant was discovered to have a variety of pharmacological properties, including anti diabetic activity ⁹, anti bacterial activity ¹⁰, hepatoprotective ¹¹, anti stress activity ^{12, 13}. The present study is about evaluation of Anthelmintic activity of Ficus benghalensis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Plant Collection and Authentication: The bark of the plant Ficus benghalensis was collected in the month of January in Narsapur, Medak District, Telangana, India. The plant was authenticated by M. Malla Reddy (M.Sc, M.Phil in Botany), Retired lecturer in Botany, Vikarabad, Telangana.

Material Used: In the present investigation of Anthelmintic activity, Carboxy Methyl Cellulose (CMC), Water, Saline was used. All the material was used in laboratory grade.

Worm Collection: The Indian adult earthworm Pheretima posthuma were collected from water logged areas and washed with water to remove all kinds of dirty water from them. They have physiological resemblance with the intestinal round worm parasites of human beings ^{14, 15, 16}.

Preparation of Plant Extract: The bark of Ficus benghalensis was shade dried and crushed in an electrical blender into powder and sieved to get a coarse powder. The powder was subjected to Soxhlet extraction using ethanol for 72 hours. The solvent was evaporated using rotary evaporator then the extract was used for the evaluation of Anthelmintic activity.

Preparation of Concentrations: The ethanolic bark extract of Ficus benghalensis was made into three different concentrations such as 25 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml, and 75 mg/ml by dissolving in normal saline. Albendazole was used as reference drug. 0.5% w/v Carboxy Methyl Cellulose (CMC) used as a suspending agent.

Anthelmintic Assay: The Anthelmintic activity was carried according to the standard method ^{17, 18, 19}. Adult Indian earthworm Pheretima posthuma has an anatomical and physiological resemblance to the intestinal roundworm parasites of human beings. Indian earthworms were placed in a Petridish containing different concentrations (25 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml and 75 mg/ml) of ethanolic bark extract of Ficus benghalensis and standard drug Albendazole. Each Petri dish contains earthworms and observed for time of paralysis as well as time death. Time of paralysis recorded when no movement of any sort could be observed, except when the worm was shaken vigorously as well as the time of death was recorded after ascertaining that worms neither moved when shaken. Finally, the test results were compared with standard reference compound Albendazole Fig. 1.

FIG. 1: IN-VITRO EXPERIMENTAL MODEL SETUP TO EVALUATE THE ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The ethanolic bark extract of Ficus benghalensis shows potent Anthelmintic activity on Pheretima posthuma. This activity was concentration dependent. As the concentration increases the extract produce maximal effect. Higher concentrations of ethanolic bark extract of Ficus benghalensis produce a paralytic effect much earlier and time taken for death was shorter Fig. 2. It shows maximum efficacy at 75 mg/ml concentration than the standard drug (Albendazole) Table 1.

TABLE 1:  ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC BARK EXTRACT OF FICUS BENGHALENSIS AND STANDARD ALBENDAZOLE

FIG. 2: PARALYSIS AND DEATH TIME OF ETHANOLIC BARK EXTRACT OF FICUS BENGHALENSIS AND STANDARD ALBENDAZOLE

CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the ethanolic bark extract of Ficus benghalensis has shown more significant Anthelmintic activity when compared to Albendazole against Indian earthworm Pheretima posthuma. The product of Ficus benghalensis is used as an Anthelmintic agent. Further, the active constituents responsible for Anthelmintic activity can be explored.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: We sincerely thankful to our principal Dr. A. Ramesh and staff members, Director and chairman of our college Vishnu Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (VIPER) for supporting us.

CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS: The authors have no conflicts of interest regarding this investigation.

REFERENCES:

1. Dwivedi A, Dwivedi S, Sitoke AK, Patel R and Jhade D: Anthelmintic activity of a Polyherbal preparation. Ethnobotanical Leaflets 2009; 13: 259-262.
2. Mulla WA, Thorat VS, Patil RV and Burade KB: Anthelmintic activity of leaves of Alocasia indica International J of Pharm Tech Research 2010; 2(1): 26-30.
3. Clewes CAN and Shaw C: Parasites. British Medical Bulletin 2000; 56(1): 193-208.
4. Devi K, Indumathy S, Rathinambal V, Uma S, Kavimani S and Balu V: Anthelminthic Activity of
   Asta Churna. Int J of Health Res 2009; 2(1): 101-103.
5. Iqbal Z, Lateef M, Ashraf M and Jabbar A: Anthelmintic activity of Artemisia brevifolia in sheep. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2004; 93: 265-268.
6. Amin Mir M, Sawhney SS and Jassal MMS: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of phytochemicals of Taraxacum officinale. Wudpecker Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmocology 2013; 2: 001-005
7. Sunita Verma: A review study on phyotochemical and pharmacological properties of Ficus benghalensis. International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology 2016; 2(4): 2395-1990.
8. The wealth of India, volume(F-G) In : A dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products,council of scientific and industrial Research, New Delhi 2005: 24-26.
9. Kasireddy GR, Kumar KS, Nadithe LR and Chinnam P: Experimental evaluation of hypoglycemic effect of bark extract of Ficus benghalensisin streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol 2021; 11: 320–325.
10. Afzal T, Ali Q and Malik A: Phenolic compounds proliferation by HPLC: To find out antibacterial activities in Ficus benghalensisplant extract. Int J Botany Stud 2020; 5: 140–144.
11. Karmakar S, Paul S, Biswas NM, Khanam J, Kar SK, Mukherjee H and Poddar S: A pharmacological audit and advancement on the recent trend of research on Ficus benghalensis including its in-vitro hepato protective activity. Clin. Phytoscience 2020; 6: 1–13.
12. Jahagirdar AQF, Hugar S, Patil V and Nanjappaiah AKH: Screening of antistress activity of Ficus benghalensisfruit extract. Res. J. Pharm. Technol 2020; 13: 191.
13. Vignesh M, Priya VV and Gayathri R: Antistress activity of methanolic extract of Ficus benghalensis. Drug Invent Today 2019; 12: 1281–1283.
14. Ghosh T, Maity TK, Bose A and Dash GK: Indian Journal of Natural Product 2009; 16-19.
15. Tripathi KD: Essentials of Medical Pharmacology, 6th edition New Delhi, Jaypee Publication 2008; 808.
16. Vigar Z: Atlas of Medical parasitology. 2^nd PG publishing House, Singapore 1984; 216-217.
17. Ghosh T, Maity TK, Bose A and Dash GK: Indian Journal of Natural Product 2009; 16-9.
18. Adnaik RS, Bhagwat DA, Raut ID, Mohite SK and Magdum CS: Laxative and anthelmintic potential of Cassia alata flower extract. Res J Pharm Technol 2011; 4: 98-100.
19. Kane SR, Adnaik RS, Apte VA and Magdum CS: In-vitro anthelmintic activity of Senna occidentalis. Res J Pharmacognosy Phyto Chem 2017; 2: 182-4.
    

    ---

    How to cite this article:

    Bindhu JH, Pradeep R, Sneha N, Tejaswi S, Patil PN and Ramanjaneyulu K: Evaluation of anthelmintic activity of Ficus benghalensis bark. Int J Pharm Sci & Res 2024; 15(1): 166-69. doi: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.15(1).166-69.

    ---

    All © 2024 are reserved by International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. This Journal licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.