ANTIOXIDANT, ANALGESIC AND IN-VITRO THROMBOLYTIC ACTIVITIES OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF PEPEROMIA PELLUCIDA (L.).
The present study was undertaken to explore the antioxidant, analgesic and thrombolytic activities of the ethanolic extract of Peperomia pellucida (PP). 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) was used in determining the free radical scavenging activity and ascorbic acid was used as standard. The ethanolic PP extract showed antioxidant activity with IC 50 value of 52.98% μg/ ml where as ascorbic acid have IC 50 value of13.06% μg/ ml. Analgesic activity of the crude extract was evaluated using acetic acid-induced writhing model of pain in mice. The crude extract at 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg b.w doses displayed significant (p < 0.05) reduction in acetic acid induced writhing in mice with the effect of 54% and 68.4% respectively which is comparable to the standard, diclofenac sodium ( 83.6%). The PP extract was also found to have significant thrombolytic activity (26.23 ±0.05%) compared to the effect of streptokinase (67.98 ± 0.12%) used as a positive control and water (4.4±0.31%)used as a negative control. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the extract showed the presence of alkaloid, saponin, flavonoids and terpenoids. The results indicated that the PP extract has moderate antioxidant, potent analgesic and thrombolytic activities.