title: Effect of ferulic acid from Hibiscus mutabilis on filarial parasite Setaria cervi: molecular and biochemical approaches.
abstract: In the reported work the in vitro activity of a methanolic extract of leaves of Hibiscus mutabilis (Malvaceae) against bovine Setaria cervi worms has been investigated. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to isolation of ferulic acid from ethyl acetate fraction. The crude extract and ferulic acid, the active molecule, showed significant microfilaricidal as well as macrofilaricidal activities against the microfilaria (L(1)) and adult of S. cervi by both a worm motility and MTT reduction assay. The findings thus provide a new lead for development of a filaricidal drug from natural products. To examine the possible mechanism of action of ferulic acid, the involvement of apoptosis in adult worms of S. cervi was investigated. We found extreme cellular disturbances in ferulic acid-treated adult worms characterized by chromatin condensation, in situ DNA fragmentation and nucleosomal DNA laddering. In this work we are reporting for the first time that ferulic acid exerts its antifilarial effect through induction of apoptosis and by downregulating and altering the level of some key antioxidants (GSH, GST and SOD) of the filarial nematode S. cervi. Our results have provided experimental evidence supporting that ferulic acid causes an increased proapoptotic gene expression and decreased expression of anti-apoptotic genes simultaneously with an elevated level of ROS and gradual dose dependent decline of parasitic GSH level. We also observed a gradual dose dependent elevation of GST and SOD activity in the ferulic acid treated worms.
authors.affiliation: Parasitology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan-731235, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Prasanta
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.forename: Prajna
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gayen
authors.forename: Ananya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Niladri
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: Bikas C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: Santi P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Sinha Babu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003373:Coumaric Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D031584:Hibiscus / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017182:Setaria Nematode / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D003373:Coumaric Acids; D010936:Plant Extracts; C004999:ferulic acid