Chemical and Pharmacological Studies of Ardisia Elliptica: Antiplatelet, Anticoagulant Activities and Multivariate Data Analysis for Drug Discovery

Abstract

Ardisia elliptica Thunberg is a local medicinal plant used in Malay traditional medicine for the treatment of pain in the region of the heart, parturition complications, fever, diarrhoea and liver poisoning. The objectives of this study are to investigate the potential antiplatelet and anticoagulant effects of A. elliptica and to isolate and identify the active compounds(s) responsible for the activities. Chemical analyses using HPLC and GC-MS were carried out. A. elliptica 70% v/v methanol extract and two compounds found in the plant, a- and ß-amyrin, were screened for their antiplatelet activity in vitro using a whole blood aggregometer. Their plasma coagulation activities were also screened in vitro using a blood coagulation analyser. A multivariate data analysis method developed in this work to predict active compounds in the extract predicted a- and ß-amyrin to be antiplatelet. In addition to in vitro tests, the extract and ß-amyrin were tested in rats for their antiplatelet and anticoagulation activities. The pharmacokinetics of pure ß-amyrin and that in the extract were studied in rats. The results provided some scientific evidence for the traditional use of A. elliptica and future work is warranted to further develop the lead compounds into useful therapeutics.