eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Biomedical Research 2328-3955 2013-10-20 1 1 86 92 10.12691/ajbr-1-4-4 AJBR2013144 article Nwaehujor Chinaka O. chinaka_n@yahoo.com 1 Ode Julius O. 2 Nwinyi Florence C. 2 Madubuike Stella A. 3 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja, Nigeria Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria The crude methanol extract of Dracaena arborea leaves induced significant (p<0.01) increase in the clotting times of 21 ± 0.54 sec and 25 ± 1.1 sec at 5% and 10% concentrations of the extract respectively compared to the baseline clotting time of 7 ± 0.63 sec for the blood sample. The extract also exhibited potent in vivo and in vitro anticoagulant activities. Increased doses (100 and 200 mg/kg) of the extract, heparin (0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg) and aspirin (1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg) were found to have significantly (p < 0.01) prolonged the mean bleeding times with respect to the baseline in rabbits. However, in thrombin-induced clotting assay, the extract demonstrated a reduced potency compared to heparin. DPPH (1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and FRAP (Ferric reducing/antioxidant power) spetrophotometric assays revealed that the crude leaf extract possesses appreciable high antioxidant potentials. Dracaena arborea leaves (Wild.) Link could be a source of novel anticoagulant and antioxidant compounds for the management of various hematological disorders. http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajbr/1/4/4/ajbr-1-4-4.pdf anticoagulant Dracaena arborea antioxidant clotting time stroke thrombin