In Vitro antibacterial and in Vivo cytotoxic activities of Grewia paniculata

Grewia paniculata (Family: Malvaceae) has been used to treat inflammation, respiratory disorders and fever. It is additionally employed for other health conditions including colds, diarrhea and as an insecticide in Bangladesh. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of different extracts of Grewia paniculata.

The antibacterial activity was evaluated against both gram negative and gram positive bacteria using disc diffusion method by determination of the diameter of zone of inhibition. Cytotoxic activity was performed by brine shrimp (Artemia salina) lethality bioassay.

In disc diffusion method, all the natural products (400 μg/disc) showed moderate to potent activity against all the tested bacteria. The ethanol extract of bark (EEB) and ethanol fraction of bark (EFB) (400 μg/disc) exhibited highest activity against Shigella dysenteriae with a zone of inhibition of 23±1.63 mm and 23±1.77 mm respectively. In the brine shrimp lethality bioassay all the extracts showed moderate cytotoxic activity when compared with the standard drug vincristin sulphate. For example, LC50 value of the ethanol fraction of bark (EFB) was 3.01 μg/ml while the LC50 of vincristine sulphate was 0.52 μg/ml.

The results suggest that all the natural products possess potent antibacterial and moderate cytotoxic.