THE REDUCTION IN CORTISOL INDUCED STRESS MARKERS BY THE AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF CLERODENDRUM COLEBROOKIANUM

In the present competitive world, stress is a major cause for several health disorders– Hypertension, Cardiovascular disorders, Supressed Immunity and other conditions. Proper stress management takes on great importance given the wide range of bodily systems impacted by stress hormones. Cortisol – the “stress hormone” affects the liver by increasing several biochemical pathways. One of the prominent stress marker is increase in gluconeogenesis. Due to the growing importance of herbal medicines, Clerodendrum colebrookianum was chosen for the study, commonly called as Phuihnam by the Mizo tribe of north eastern India. Previously carried out qualitative studies indicated the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, phenolscardiac-glycosides and anthraquinones in Phuihnam. Ex-vivo studies were carried out using the hepatocytes from Sus scrofa domesticus. Our study indicated a high glucose release having an absorbance about 0.335 ± 0.001 at 520 nm after one hour of incubation when cortisol was induced but on addition of the boiled extract the absorbance drastically reduced to 0.124 ± 0.010 at 520 nm. Similarly on addition of sodium pyruvate as substrate along with cortisol, the boiled extract proved to show more than 50% of reduction in glucose release indicating it as a potent source of reducing cortisol activity. The results of the present work suggests that the boiled form of the vegetable proves to be a good  anti-stress source and could be used to derive a semi-synthetic drug to curb stress and stress-related disorders in future.