Anti-Arthritic, Anti-Inflammatory, Thrombolytic, Membrane Stabilizing, Antifungal and Cytotoxic Activity of Polyscias scutellaria Leaf Extract: An In-vitro Analysis

The objective of this investigations was to evaluate in Vitro anti-arthritic, anti-inflammatory, thrombolytic, membrane stabilizing, antifungal and cytotoxic activities from the methanolic leaf extract of Polyscias scutellaria. Primary evaluation of methanolic extract of Polyscias scutellaria leaf (MEPSL) was performed via phytochemical screening. Presence of Alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, glycosides, carbohydrates and reducing sugars were observed by phytochemical screening, among other secondary compounds. Using in vitro methods of protein denaturation, the anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory properties of MEPSL was investigated. The results showed that the extracts significantly slowed down arthritis and inflammation with the percent inhibition of 94.59% and 86.33% at the conc. of 1000 µg/mL compared to the standard diclofenac sodium (98.19%) and acetyle salicylic acid (98.56%) at same concentration respectively. The thrombolytic activity of the extracts was additionally examined by clotlysis method, and the results showed that the ability to break up blood clots increased with the amount of extract used with the value of 97.32% which is very significant compared to the standard streptokinase which showed clotlysis of 91.304%. MEPSL was also showed action that stabilized membranes by using heat induced hemolysis method, which could be helpful in treating conditions like bleeding and swelling with the percent of protection value of 58.87% when compared to standard diclofenac sodium with the percent of protection value 73.63%. Antifungal action was also seen, which shows that it could be used to treat diseases caused by fungi with the zone of inhibition 7-36 mm varying on the type of fungi. Lastly, in vitro method was used to investigate the extracts' damaging effect on Artemia salina by using shrimp lethality assay. The results showed significant cytotoxicity with the LC50 value of 1.057 µg/mL compared to the standard vincristine sulphate (LC50 value of 0.608 µg/mL). To sum up, it is clear that the phytochemical found in this plant can be used for wide range of drug discovery field due to its potent pharmacological actions.