Adhatoda vasica Nees, Acanthaceae, is well known plant in Ayurveda and Unani medicine. The purpose of this study was to characterize the most bioactive phytochemicals viz., vasicine, vasicinone, vasicine acetate, 2-acetyl benzyl amine, vasicinolone present in the chloroform fraction having anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. The anti-inflammatory activity was tested by using carrageenan and CFA-model induced paw oedema. The antimicrobial activity of isolated compounds was assessed by using the microdilution method. The observed results revealed that vasicine showed most potent anti-inflammatory effects (59.51%) at the dose of 20.0mg/kg at 6h after carrageenan injection and maximum inhibition rate was observed of vasicinone (63.94%) at the dose of 10.0mg/kg at 4 days after CFA injection. The strong antibacterial activity was exhibited by vasicine at 20μg/ml dose against E. coli and also demonstrated maximum antifungal activity against C. albicans at the dose of >55μg/ml. All the five alkaloids demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.