Gut modulatory and antiplatelet activities of Viscum cruciatum

Authors

Anwar Hassan Gilani, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Mehmood MH
Khan A
Janbaz KH
Saeed SA

Document Type

Article

Department

Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Abstract

Viscum cruciatum Sieber (Viscaceae) is widely used in folk medicine for various gastrointestinal and inflammatory disorders. The crude extract of Viscum cruciatum (VCr), which tested positive for alkaloids, flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, sterols, tannins, and terpenes, caused concentration-dependent (0.01–3.0 mg/mL) relaxation of spontaneous and K⁺ (80 mM)-induced contractions of isolated rabbit jejunum, similar to that caused by verapamil. VCr shifted the Ca²⁺ concentration–response curves to the right with suppression of the maximum response, like verapamil. In guinea-pig ileum preparations, VCr caused atropine-sensitive spasmogenic effects. When tested for its effect on human platelets, VCr inhibited the adrenaline and adenosine 5′-diphosphate (ADP)-induced human platelet aggregation at the concentration range of 0.3–1.2 mg/mL. These observations indicate the presence of spasmogenic, spasmolytic, and antiplatelet activities in Viscum cruciatum mediated through cholinergic and calcium channel antagonist activities along with the blockade of adrenergic and ADP receptors, respectively, which explains its medicinal use in gut motility and inflammatory disorders.

Publication (Name of Journal)

Pharmaceutical Biology

Recommended Citation

Gilani, A. H., MH, M., A, K., KH, J., SA, S. (2009). Gut modulatory and antiplatelet activities of Viscum cruciatum. Pharmaceutical Biology, 47, 955-961.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_bbs/240