Pharmacological profiles of Holarhena antidysenterica (L.) Wall bark

We undertook the present study to evaluate different pharmacological as antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of the crude ethanolic extract of the stem bark of Holarhena antidysenterica (Family: Apocynaceae). The antioxidant property of the extract was assessed by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl free radical scavenging assay. The extract showed antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}$ about ${\sim}08$ ${\mu}g/ml$), which was comparable to standard drug ascorbic acid ($IC_{50}$ about ${\sim}10$ ${\mu}g/ml$). The extract showed a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against all tested gram positive and gram negative bacteria most prominent against Enterococci, Staphylococcus pyogenase and Shigella sonnie. And the zones of inhibitions were ranging from 10 - 21 mm for all the tested bacteria. Its cytotoxic property was evaluated by brine shrimp lethality bioassay. The extract showed significant lethality and the $LC_{50}$, $LC_{90}$ values were 80 ${\mu}g/ml$, 320 ${\mu}g/ml$ respectively. The results tend to suggest that the extract might possess chemical constituent(s) that are responsible for antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxic activities.