Herbology is the prevailing system among the nationally-accepted alternative or complementary systems of medicine. The system is due to its general and patient-oriented methodology, is widely used in the general population exposing them to the risk of the side effects of the herbal medicines. The aim of study was to assess the acute and sub-acute toxicity of the polyherbal formulation Hab-e-Kabad Noshadri tablets. In the acute arm of the study, a single dose of 2000 mg/kg was administered to Swiss Albino mice which were observed for physical symptoms and behavioral changes for 72 h. In sub-acute toxicity study repeated doses of the polyherbal preparation was administered to Wistar rats of both genders, separately. The animals received three doses of polyherbal product (50 mg/kg/day, 100 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day) for a period of 28 days. On 28th day of experiment, blood sampling of animals was done for hematological and biochemical analysis i.e. liver and renal function parameters, lipid profile and then sacrificed for histopathological examination of liver and kidney. There was no morbidity and mortality noticed with single dose administration in acute toxicity study in mice. In sub-acute toxicity study, morphological changes with some damage in liver and kidney tissues of male and female animals were recorded at dose of 100 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day. It was found that prolonged use at higher dose i.e. 200 mg/kg/day of this polyherbal formulation should be avoided and practitioners should cautiously prescribe this formulation in patients with hepatic and renal impairment.

Many phytochemicals can affect the growth and development of plants and insects which can be used as biological control agents. In this study, different concentrations of crude, hexane, chloroform, butanol, and aqueous extracts of Euphorbia nivulia Buch.-Ham., an endemic plant of the Cholistan desert in South Punjab of Pakistan, were analysed for their chemical constituents. Their various concentrations were also tested for their phytotoxic and insecticidal potential against duckweed, Lemna minor L., and the dusky cotton bug, Oxycarenus hyalinipennis Costa. various polyphenols, i.e., quercetin, gallic acid, caffeic acid, syringic acid, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and cinnamic acid were detected in different concentrations with different solvents during the phytochemical screening of E. nivulia. In the phytotoxicity test, except for 100 μg/mL of the butanol extract gave 4.5% growth regulation, no phytotoxic lethality could be found at 10 and 100 μg/mL of all the extracts. The highest concentration, 1000 μg/mL, of the chloroform, crude, and butanol extracts showed 100, 63.1, and 27.1% of growth inhibition in duckweed, respectively. In the insecticidal bioassay, the highest O. hyalinipennis mortalities (87 and 75%) were recorded at 15% concentration of the chloroform and butanol extracts of E. nivulia. In contrast, the lower concentrations of the E. nivulia extracts caused the lower mortalities. Altogether, these findings revealed that E. nivulia chloroform extracts showed significant phytotoxicity while all the extracts showed insecticidal potential. This potential can be, further, refined to be developed for bio-control agents.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the antidiabetic effects of Euphorbia nivulia (En), native to Cholistan Desert area of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. First, we performed high-performance liquid chromatography analysis and found that this plant contains ferulic acid, gallic acid, quercetin, benzoic acid, polyphenols, and flavonoids. Then, we performed in vitro and in vivo studies to assess its effects on diabetic Wistar rat model. The experiments were performed and compared with control drug glibenclamide. The 70% hydroalcoholic extract of En exhibited 97.8% in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory effect at a dose of 1.0 mg/mL. We orally administered the extract of En and control drug to the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats and analyzed its antidiabetic effects. We found that the extract of En with a dose of 500 mg/kg/body weight exhibited significant effect to reduce blood glucose in STZ-induced rats as compared with the control group (P < .001). Our histological data also showed that the extract significantly improved the histopathology of pancreas. Collectively, both in vitro and in vivo studies revealed that En possesses α-glucosidase inhibitory, antioxidant, and anti-hyperglycemic effect in STZ-induced diabetic rats.

Background: Euphorbia nivulia Buch.-Ham (En) is one of the members of Euphorbiaceae family that is rich in phytochemicals including flavonoids, triterpenes and polyphenolics. Purpose: To evaluate hepato-nephronprotective potential of Euphorbia nivulia. Study Design: Sprague Dawley rats were used as animal models in the study. Methods: En hydro alcoholic extract was standardized and managed in high dose (300 mgkg(-1) body weight (BW) and low dose (150 mgkg(-1) BW) to Sprague Dawley rats, administered with CCl4 (1mlkg(-1)BW). Silymarin (50 mgkg(-1) BW) was taken as positive control. The treatments were given thrice a week. Consequently, blood and hepatic homogenates were collected after 4 weeks of treatment. While the situation of kidney was explored through measurement of serum creatinine, serum urea, sodium and albumin levels. Hepatic and renal samples of rats treated with both 150 and 300 mg/kg of the extract were used for tissue pathological study. Results: En extract revealed dose dependent moderate level of shelter against CCl4 intoxicated hepato-nephrotoxicity as directed from the acquired results. The decrease of the albumin levels by the maximum dose of the extract exceeded similar to that attained with Silymarin, and the protecting effects of the extract against oxidative destruction were evaluated. Examination of serum show significant (p < 0.05) elevation in the level of aspartate transaminase(AST), alkaline phosphatase(ALP), alanine transaminase(ALT), whereas decline were noted for albumin in CCl4 treated rats. Histopathological cuts and damages were seen in hepatic cells and kidney of rats managed by CCl4. But, co-administration of En extract, dose dependently, improved the CCl4-carried hepatic harms in these limits. Conclusion: These effects propose that the phyto-ingredients of En extract with known polyphenols were able to improve the oxidative stress brought along with CCl4 and may be a useful healing mediator to manage oxidative stress related disorders like hepato-nephro toxicity.