Md. Al Amin Sikder

Screening of ten medicinal plants of Bangladesh for analgesic activity on Swiss-albino mice

Bangladesh is a good repository of medicinal plants, which contribute a lot to the healthcare management of the local people. In order to explore the pain-relieving potentiality of some indigenous plants of Bangladesh, ten plants were selected initially and screened out for analgesic activity. For this case, plants were extracted with 95xa0% methanol and then assayed by acetic acid-induced writhing and tail immersion methods for peripheral analgesic action and by formalin-induced pain method for central analgesic action in Swiss-albino mice model. Plant extracts were orally administered to the mice at 400xa0mg/kg body weight for this evaluation. In this study, Justicia gendarussa, Musaenda philippica, Steudnera virosa, Trewia polycarpa, Hydnocarpus kurzii and Nymphaea nouchali might be considered as promising analgesic candidate among the tested plants.

Recent Trends in Natural Product Research and Bangladesh Perspective

Background: Natural products, especially those derived from higher plants, have attracted scientists from ancient time because of their potential therapeutic values. Drug development from natural sources showed that natural products or natural productderived drugs comprised about 28% of all new chemical entities launched to the market. These are originated from terrestrial plants, microbes, marine organisms, etc. However, until recently an insignificant part of the plants has been scientifically evaluated for their medicinal properties. Bangladesh is a rich repository of medicinal plants, many of which are widely used in the Ayurvedic, Unani, herbal and other traditional systems of medicines. The study programs were initiated to investigate some of the traditionally used medicinal plants of Bangladesh, including Corypha taliera, the only living wild species of tali palm for the discovery of novel drug candidates as well as to isolate and identify bioactive compounds from several microbial strains and marine samples.