Comparison of Diuretic Activity of Aerva lanata and Aerva tomentosa

Deepak Kumar*¹, DN Prasad¹ and SP Bhatnagar²

¹Dept. of Pharmacognosy, Shivalik College Of Pharmacy, Nangal, Ropar, Punjab, 140126, (INDIA).

²Department Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, B.I.T., Mesra, Ranchi, 835215, (INDIA).

ABSTRACT

Herbal drugs are already in vouge as therapeutic agents for thousands of years but in present times there is a need to re-valuate their clinical efficacy. Some times different herbs are known by same name; also a large number of plants are collected from wild sources like forests and waste places through unskilled labour for which it is not always possible to differentiate the plant species taxonomically. Thus, the identity and quality of the drug is compromised. Aerva lanta(A.l.) is a glaring example, which is adulterated by Aerva tomentosa(A.t.) having same family amaranthaceae. Aerva lanata commonly known as Bui-Kallan (Pb.) have nearly same synonym, as that of Aerva tomentosa, Boikallan (Pb.).Both are used in the traditional system of medicine as diuretic. Till yet no comparison has been made for their diuretic activity. Hence, we compared the diuretic effect of ethanolic extract of aerial parts of Aerva lanata and Aerva tomentosa.

KEY WORDS: Acetazolamide, aquaretic, kaliuretic, chloruretic

INTRODUCTION

Aerva lanta Linn. and Aerva tomentosa Forsk. are herbaceous common wayside weeds which are recognized by their white axillary bunches of small woolly flowers belonging to family amarathaceae.They are abundant on the plains in the warmer parts of India¹ and almost all over the plains upto an altitude of 3000 m. They are found in India in the states of Punjab,U.P., Tamilnadu and Karnatka and in Sri Lanka, Egypt , Java and tropical Africa.

Aerva lanata contains β-sitosteryl palmitate, α- amyrin and β-sitosterol and tannin. It is endowed with chemical compounds such as steroids, flavonoids, alkaloids, polysaccharides and saponin². Six alkaloids are reported from Aerva lanata like Canthin - 6-one and β-Carboline, Hentriacontane, β-sitosterol and its D-glucoside, α-amyrin and betulin on dry plant material basis³. Four flavonoid glycosides, betulin, campesterol, Chrysin etc. were reported to present⁴ while Aerva tomentosa contains kaempferol-3-galactoside, kaempferol-3-rhamnogalactoside, β -amyrin and β –sitosterol⁵. Ecdysteroids were isolated and quantified from Aerva tomentosa⁶. Aerva tomentosa has synonym of Aerva javanica Juss. Aerva javanica is rare and nothing has been reported on it⁷. A flavonol glycoside viz.kaempferide-3-O-(6’-O-acetyl-4’-O- α-methylsinapyl) neohesperidoside had been isolated from the perianth lobes of the herb. This compound had been found to possess marked antimicrobial and hepatoprotective activities⁸.

Traditionally Aerva lanata is used as diuretic, demulcent, in headache and lithiasis. The herb has been used for its therapeutic effects in renal diseases by some Unani physicians and to treat urinary calculi⁹. Aerva lanata has been documented for its urolithiasis effects¹⁰, antimicrobial¹¹, cytotoxicity¹², antidiabetic¹³, nephroprotective¹⁴, immunomodulatory¹⁵, diuretic and its anti-inflammatory activities¹⁶.

Table No.1: Comparison of Diuretic activity of Concentrated Ethanolic extract Aerva lanata and Aerva tomentosa in rats.

Parameters	GP-I Control (N.Saline)	GP-II Acetazolamide 20mg/kg	GP-III A.l.300 mg/kg	GP-IV A.l.600 mg/kg	GP-V A.t.300 mg/kg	GP-VI A.t.600 mg/kg
Urine vol. (ml/rat)	0.68±0.07	3.1±0.19**	1.36±0.13*	2.22±0.1**	1.06±0.13	1.1±0.15**
Sodium (mEq/l)	64.2±1.06	111±1.22	70.6±1.50	90.4±1.2	49±0.94	68.2±1.49*
Potassium (mEq/l)	67.6±1.23	92.4±1.20	99.6±1.91	142.4±1.53	50.4±0.92	68±1.22
Chloride (mEq/l)	99.8±1.24	35±1.64	125.2±1.02	144.6±1.80	107.6±1.50	120±0.94
Na^+/K^+ratio	0.949	1.201	0.708	0.634	0.972	1.002

n=5, Values are mean ± S.E.M., All groups were compared with control, One way ANOVA followed by Dunnest, ^٭P < 0.05, ^٭٭P < 0.01 considered significant .

Aerva tomentosa is diuretic and demulcent. A decoction of the plant is used to remove swelling¹⁷. Aerva tomentosa showed significant antimicrobial activity against gm-ve bacteria¹⁸. The flavonol glycoside isolated from A.t. shows antimicrobial and hepatoprotective activity¹⁹.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Collection of Plant material:

Aerial parts of Aerva lanata and Aerva tomentosa were collected from wild source from the state of Punjab (India) and were authenticated by Dr. Sumer Chandra, Scientist D, F.R.I. Deemed University, I.P.E., Kaulagarh Road, Dehradun-248195 (India) as Specimen voucher no. SCP-301 and 302.

Extraction of plant materials:

The aerial parts were shade dried, powdered and passed through 80 mesh sieve. The powdered material was extracted separately with ethanol using Soxhlet’s apparatus. The extract obtained in each case was dried in rotary vacuum evaporator at 40⁰ C yielding a yellowish green colored, viscous mass, 1.16% of A.l. and 1.2% of A.t. The phytochemical tests of ethanolic extracts of Aerva species showed the presence of alkaloids, saponin, flavonoid and tannins.

Animals:

Healthy Wister albino rats of either sex weighing about 150-180g were obtained from animal house of Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sector 39-A, Chandigarh, 160036. Animal house was well maintained under standard hygienic conditions, at a temperature (22 ± 2⁰C) with 12 hr day and night cycle. Rats were housed in groups of 5 per cage. They were fed with commercial food pellets and tap water ad libitum. The Institutional Animal Ethical committee (IAEC) has approved the protocol of the study.

Diuretic Activity:

The concentrated ethanolic extract of Aerva lanata and Aerva tomentosa was evaluated for their diuretic activity according to the method of Lipschitz et.al.²⁰ Albino rats of either sex deprived of food and water 18 hrs. prior to the experiment were divided into six groups of five each. All animals were hydrated with normal saline at a dose of 25ml/kg orally. The ethanolic extract of A.l. and A.t. and acetazolamide (Wyeth Lederle, Mumbai) were dissolved in normal saline. One group served as a negative control and was administered normal saline (5ml/kg) i.p., while the other five groups received either the standard drug acetazolamide (20mg/kg) or the ethanolic concentrate of Aerva species (300 and 600mg/kg) i.p . The animals were housed in metabolic cages specially designed to collect urine and to retain faeces. The volume of urine collected was measured in measuring cylinder up to 6 hrs. after administration. During this period, no food or water was made available to animals. The total volume of urine collected was measured for both control and treated groups with A.l. and A.t.

The Na⁺ and K⁺ ion concentration in the urine samples were determined using Flame Photometer (Elico). The Cl^- ion concentration was found by titration with 0.02 N AgNO₃ using 5% Potassium chromate solution as indicator. All results are expressed as mean ± S.E.M. The results obtained were compared with the control and analysed using statistical method.

RESULT:

Ethanolic extract of Aerva lanata at the dose levels of 300 and 600 mg/kg acted as a prominent aquaretic, kaliuretic and chloruretic as compared to Aerva tomentosa. Acetazolamide increased the urine volume more than four fold, while A.l. extract at 600mg dose level by three folds and A.t. at same dose level only by1.6 fold. Potassium excretion level was significantly increased by about two fold when compared to reference diuretic at 600 mg dose level of A.l. but there is no any marked increase in the potassium level at the same dose level in A.t. The A.l. Ethanolic extracts (300 and 600 mg/kg) shows significant (**P ≤ 0.01) aquaretic and kaliuretic effect when compared to control. Both the extract shows aquaretic, chloruretic effects with respect to control at dose level 300 and 600 mg/kg.

DISCUSSION:

The Ethanolic concentrated extract of Aerva lanata and Aerva tomentosa showed significant increase in urine volume and urinary chloride levels. The result show a mild diuretic activity of Ethanolic extracts as compared to the standard diuretic drug Acetazolamide. The result clearly shows that the extracts of Aerva lanata act as a mild diuretic in a dose dependent manner. The Ethanolic extract of Aerva lanata is comparatively stronger diuretic than that of Aerva tomentosa. Hence the above activity justifies properties of these Aerva species as diuretic suggested in the folklore literature.

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19 Jaswant, B., Ragunathan, V. and Sulochana, N. (2003), A rare flavonol glycoside from Aerva tomentosa Forsk as antimicrobial and hepatoprotective agent, Indian Journal of Chemistry, 42B, 956-958.

20 Lipschitz, W.L. and Kerpscas, A.J. (1943), “Pharmacological Experimental Technique”, 79-97.

Received on 16.09.2009

Accepted on 12.11.2009

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Research J. Pharmacology and Pharmacodynamics 1(3) Nov - Dec. 2009; 147-149