1Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
2Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja, Nigeria
3Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
American Journal of Biomedical Research.
2013,
Vol. 1 No. 4, 86-92
DOI: 10.12691/ajbr-1-4-4
Copyright © 2013 Science and Education PublishingCite this paper: Nwaehujor Chinaka O., Ode Julius O., Nwinyi Florence C., Madubuike Stella A.. Anticoagulant and Antioxidant Activities of
Dracaena arborea Leaves (Wild.) Link.
American Journal of Biomedical Research. 2013; 1(4):86-92. doi: 10.12691/ajbr-1-4-4.
Correspondence to: Nwaehujor Chinaka O., Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. Email:
chinaka_n@yahoo.comAbstract
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.
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