Abstract

In Vitro Evaluation of Apocynum cannabinum Against Different Bacteria

Authors: Anjum Masood, Tariq Nadeem, Muhammad Umair Manzoor, Muhammad Owais, Muhammad Imran Khan Sohrani, Zohaib Saeed, Muhammad Rizwan, Rustam Ali Balouch and Qazi Muhammad Awais

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.71081/cvj/2025.051

Abstract
This research was conducted to check the antibacterial activity and cytotoxic effects of the extracts of Apocynum cannabinum L., which is commonly called Indian hemp. It is widely known as a medicinal plant due to its ethno-pharmacological applications. The soxhlet apparatus was used to extract the leaves of A. Cannabinum with chloroform, hexane, distilled water, and hexane. These extracts were used against four major pathogens of poultry, Clostridium, E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus. The zone of inhibition was determined by the agar well diffusion method, while the serial dilution assay was used for minimum inhibitory concentrations. The cytotoxic effects were determined by MTT assay using the Vero cell lines to check the safety of the extracts. The results showed that the ethanolic and chloroform extracts show significant antibacterial effects against the isolated bacteria, while the hexane extracts showed moderate results, and the aqueous extracts showed results only against Clostridium. The chloroform extract shows the best results against the bacteria with low MIC values. The results from the MTT assay showed that concentrations of chloroform (3610.74), ethanol (4025), hexane (2850), and aqueous extracts (1561.75) µg/ml have no cytotoxic effects. All the results were statistically observed by using Duncan's Multiple range post hoc test, which showed significant variations in MIC and ZOI values between different groups, whereas no variations were observed in the same group. Overall, results showed that the extracts of A. Cannabinum may serve as a safer antibacterial agent against tested bacteria.

Keywords: Apocynum cannabinum; Bacteria; Cytotoxic effects; MTT