BACKGROUND

Ageratum conyzoides Linn. (Asteraceae) is an annual herbaceous plant with a long history of traditional medicinal and agricultural uses; it is usually grown in the northeast part of Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE

The ethanol extract of the plant leaves was evaluated for preliminary phytochemical screening with its antinociceptive and antioxidant activities.

METHODS

The preliminary phytochemical analysis was performed on the basis of standard procedures. The analgesic activity of the extract was investigated using the acetic acid-induced writhing method in mice. Five complementary tests such as DPPH free radical scavenging, nitric oxide (NO) scavenging, reducing power, Fe(++) ion chelating ability and total phenolic content were used for determining antioxidant activities.

RESULTS

The results of preliminary phytochemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloids, reducing sugars, saponins, gums, steroids, tannins and flavonoids. The extract possessed a significant dose-dependent DPPH free radical scavenging activity with an IC50 value of 18.91 μg/ml compared to ascorbic acid (IC50: 2.937 μg/ml) and butylated hydroxyanisole (IC50: 5.10 μg/ml). The IC50 value of the extract for NO scavenging (41.81 μg/ml) was also found to be significant compared to the IC50 value of ascorbic acid (37.93 μg/ml). Moreover, the extract showed reducing power activity and Fe(++) ion chelating ability. The total phenolic amount was also calculated as quite high (378.37 mg/g of gallic acid equivalents) in the crude ethanol extract.

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, the obtained results tend to suggest the antinociceptive and antioxidant activities of the ethanol extract of the plant leaves and justify its use in folkloric remedies.