Abstract

SCREENING OF ANTIDIABETIC AND ANTICANCER ACTIVITY IN ANDROGRAPHIS PANICULATA (NILAVEMBU)

Viseshni R.* and Priya R. Iyer

ABSTRACT

The Traditional Indian medical practice using plant drugs has been successful from very early times in using these natural drugs and preventing or suppressing various tumors with different lines of treatment. Andrographis paniculata (Nilavembu) it belongs to the family Acanthaceae and is commonly known as ‘King of Bitters’. Diabetes is a global problem. The anti-diabetic drugs from plants in current clinical use and their similar mechanism of action of herbal components are preferred mainly due to lesser side effect and low cost. Cancer is one of the most prominent diseases in humans and currently there is considerable scientific and commercial interest in the continuing discovery of new anticancer agents from natural product sources. The objective of this study was to evaluate its phytochemical constituents and in vitro analysis of the anti-diabetic effect of aqueous extracts of Nilavembu. It was tested for inhibition of Alpha-amylase activity by DNSA color reagent. They were tested for their ability to hinder for diffusion of glucose across a dialysis membrane and invivo studies had to be done. To evaluate the effect of phenolic compounds in Nilavembu and in vivo methods like MTT assay by using VERO and A549 cell lines are commonly used for estimating anticancer properties of natural products from medicinal plant.

Keywords: The Traditional Andrographis paniculata (Nilavembu) medicinal plant.