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Effect of Fagonia Arabica (Dhamasa) on in vitro thrombolysis
Sweta Prasad1, Rajpal Singh Kashyap, Jayant Y Deopujari
1Biochemistry Research Laboratory, Central India Institute of Medical Sciences, 88/2, Bajaj Nagar, Nagpur-440010, Maharashtra, India. sweta_ciims@yahoo.com
Insights
This study investigated herbal extracts for blood clot dissolving properties. Fagonia arabica (Dhamasa) demonstrated significant in vitro thrombolytic activity, suggesting potential for treating atherothrombotic diseases.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Natural Products
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Atherothrombotic diseases, such as myocardial infarction, result from blood clots.
- Current thrombolytic agents have limitations and can cause severe side effects.
- Herbal medicines have a long history of therapeutic use, but specific thrombolytic herbs are underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the in vitro thrombolytic potential of various aqueous herbal extracts.
- To identify specific herbs that exhibit significant blood clot lysis activity.
Main Methods:
- An in vitro thrombolytic model was employed.
- Six aqueous herbal extracts (Tinospora cordifolia, Rubia cordifolia, Hemidesmus indicus, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Fagonia Arabica, Bacopa monnieri) were tested.
- Streptokinase served as the positive control, and water as the negative control.
Main Results:
- All tested herbal extracts showed varying degrees of clot lysis.
- Fagonia arabica exhibited the highest clot lysis percentage (75.6%), approaching the positive control (Streptokinase, 86.2%).
- Bacopa monnieri also showed notable activity (41.8%).
Conclusions:
- Fagonia arabica (Dhamasa) possesses significant in vitro thrombolytic properties.
- Further research is needed to determine its in vivo efficacy and identify active compounds.
- Dhamasa holds promise as a potential natural agent for managing atherothrombotic diseases.
Background:
Atherothrombotic diseases such as myocardial or cerebral infarction are serious consequences of the thrombus formed in blood vessels. Thrombolytic agents are used to dissolve the already formed clots in the blood vessels; however, these drugs have certain limitations which cause serious and sometimes fatal consequences. Herbal preparations have been used since ancient times for the treatment of several diseases. Herbs and their components possessing antithrombotic activity have been reported before; however, herbs that could be used for thrombolysis has not been reported so far. This study's aim was to investigate whether herbal preparations (aqueous extract) possess thrombolytic activity or not.
Methods:
An in vitro thrombolytic model was used to check the clot lysis effect of six aqueous herbal extracts viz., Tinospora cordifolia, Rubia cordifolia, Hemidesmus indicus, Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn, Fagonia Arabica and Bacopa monnieri Linn along with Streptokinase as a positive control and water as a negative control.
Results:
Using an in vitro thrombolytic model, Tinospora cordifolia, Rubia cordifolia, Hemidesmus indicus, Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn, Fagonia Arabica and Bacopa monnieri Linn showed 19.3%, 14.5%, 20.3%, 17.8%, 75.6% and 41.8% clot lysis respectively . Among the herbs studied Fagonia arabica showed significant % of clot lysis (75.6%) with reference to Streptokinase (86.2%).
Conclusion:
Through our study it was found that Dhamasa possesses thrombolytic properties that could lyse blood clots in vitro; however, in vivo clot dissolving properties and active component(s) of Dhamasa for clot lysis are yet to be discovered. Once found Dhamasa could be incorporated as a thrombolytic agent for the improvement of patients suffering from Atherothrombotic diseases.
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