Antihaemolytic and snake venom neutralizing effect of some Indian medicinal plants.

OBJECTIVE: To validate traditional claims of usefulness of the Indian plants in management of poisonous snakebite and evaluate the antivenom properties displayed by the alcoholic extracts of Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata), Crateva magna (C. magna), Gloriosa superba (G. superba) and Hydrocotyle javanica (H. javanica).

METHODS: These plants were collected, identified and the extracts were prepared by using conventional Soxhlet ethanol extraction technique. The venom neutralization activity was accessed in mice (20-25g) and number of mortalities was observed against clinically important snake (Naja nigricollis) venom. Present study also deals with in vitro membrane stabilizing activity of these plants against hyposaline induced human red blood corpuscles (HRBC).

RESULTS: Extracts of H. javanica and G. superba gave 80 % and 90 % protection to mice treated with minimum lethal dose of venom (LD(99)). These two plants showed significant neutralization effect against the venoms of Naja nigricollis venom. H. javanica and G. superba (25-100 mg/mL) produced significant changes of membrane stabilization of human red blood cells (HRBC) exposed to hyposaline-induced haemolysis.

CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that probably due to presence of various phytochemicals plays an important role in the anti-venom potential of these Indian medicinal plants against Naja nigricollis venom. The above observations confirmed that A. paniculata, C. magna, G. superba and H. javanica plant extracts possess potent snake venom neutralizing capacity and could potentially be used as an adjuvants for antivenin therapy in case of snakebite envenomation, especially against the local effects of cobra venoms.