Rudimentary Pharmacological Inspection of the Ethanolic Extract of Grewia hirsute Vhal

Background: Screening of plant kingdom for various pharmacologic activities with an aim of discovering new active constituents is a continuous process and a part of systemic analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, anti-ulcer, and thrombolytic effects of the ethanolic extract of Grewia hirsuta Vahl. (EEGH) in different in vivo and in vitro paradigms in both Swiss Albino mice and Long Evans rats.

Materials and Methods: After an oral acute toxicity study, adult male mice and rats according to the testing procedure were treated with EEGH (200, 400, 2000 and 4000 mg/kg, p.o.) and (1000 mg/70kg B.W. p.o Metformin, 10 mg/70kg, B.W. p.o Simvastatin, and 30 mg/70kg, B.W. p.o Omeprazole), and subjected to three in vivo tests and one in vitro test according to various established testing protocol.

Results: After testing glucose tolerance test, for hypoglycemic activities, 400 mg/kg EEGH both in 6 weeks and 12 weeks exhibited moderate anti-diabetic effect (8.89 ± 0.09 and 8.12±0.28 mmol/L respectively). Additionally, combination therapy of both 400 mg/kg EEGH + Metformin revealed a substantial fall of sugar level from 16.78± 0.1 to 6.4 ± 0.04 mmol/L, confirming a sign of moderate potentiation. No lipid-lowering effect was observed in the timed-treatment procedure. In the anti-ulcer effect, n-butanol showed a comparable ulcer inhibition index (90.56%) compared to the standard Omeprazole inhibition index of 91%. Additionally, ethyl acetate fraction showed 62% and 66% clot lysis capacity by 200 and 400 mg/kg EEGH, whereas standard Streptokinase’s capacity was 80%. The EEGH showed notable anti-ulcer activities and moderate anti-diabetic and thrombolytic activities.

Conclusion: Results extend the current understanding of the impacts of Grewia hirsuta Vahl. on biological parameters and indicate that this plant might be promising for the management of diabetes mellitus, anticoagulant, and gastric ulcer disorders prominently.