Awareness About Medicinal Uses of Costus Pictus Plant Among Dental Students

Costus igneus, typically known as searing costus, is native to South America ordinarily known as the insulin plant. It is typically grown in gardens mostly as a decorative herb in South India and is further out of control in other areas. It is used in India to combat hyperglycaemia and many other diseases. This survey was performed with the purpose of assessing the knowledge and the awareness about the Costus pictus medicinal plant amongst dental students. A cross-sectional survey was performed with a self-administered questionnaire with ten questions circulated among 100 dental students. The questionnaire assessed the awareness about Costus pictus plant, their medicinal uses, antidiabetic activity, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. The responses were recorded and analysed.93% of the respondents were not aware of medical uses of Costus pictus .95% were not aware of antidiabetic activity of Costus pictus .97 % were not aware of the antioxidant activity of Costus pictus. Again 97% were not aware of the antimicrobial activity of Costus pictus. The knowledge and awareness about the medicinal Costus plant were less among dental students and awareness was created about its medicinal uses.

Evaluation of Anti-microbial activity of methanolic extract of Costus igneus plant against multidrug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms

Costus igneus plants are highly active against the majority of Gram-negative and Gram-positive microorganisms. The purpose of the current study was intended to evaluate the anti-microbial potential of methanolic extract of Costus igneus over multidrug-resistant bacteria, specifically to methicillin, vancomycin, carbapenems, colistin. The study also focused on the antifungal activity of the plant extract against Candida species. Phytochemical analysis was conducted to identify the presence of the active chemicals such as steroids, alkaloid, flavonoids, polyphenols, terpenoids, saponin, tannin, glycosides, quinones, coumarins and phenolic compounds using standard protocols. Anti-microbial activity of C. igneus was assessed through agar well diffusion technique and Minimum inhibitory concentration method (MIC) by using multidrug-resistant Gram-positive microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis) and multidrug-resistant Gram-negative microorganisms (E.coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Proteus mirabilis, Citrobacter species) and also Candida albicans. At 120mg/ml C.igneus plant extract concentration, maximum zone of inhibition was obtained with all the nine tested microorganisms and however the zone of inhibition was slighter with regular standard potential antibiotics like colistin, imipenem etc. Anti-microbials of plant origin possesses tremendous therapeutic potential as they can accomplish the requirements with fewer sideeffects that are routinely associated with synthetic anti-microbials. In this investigation, it was established that C. igneus leaf extract possesses excellent anti-microbial activity which can be attributed to the occurrence of phytochemicals. Further discovery of plant-derived anti-microbials should be continued to trim down the usage of powerful drugs which pose bad side effects.

In Vitro Cytotoxicity Activity of Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Costus Igneus Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HepG2) Cells

Costus igneus popularly known as ‘Insulin plant’ belongs to Costaceae family. The anti diabetic potential of the plant has been evaluated and widely used as Ayurvedic medicinal herb to treat diabetes mellitus and associated metabolic syndrome. Recently Non- alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) associated metabolic syndrome has been identified as an important risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). So agents with insulin sensitizing action could play dual role in the control of metabolic syndrome and cancer. This study is designed to evaluate the in vitro anticancer activity of the ethanolic extract of Costus igneus leaves against hepatocellular carcinoma( HepG2) cells. The viable cells were assessed by cytotoxicity activity (MTT assay) with the eight different concentration (1000 to7.8μg/ml) of the extracts. The percentage of viability was calculated. From the graph the concentration required for a 50% of viability (IC50) was calculated as 62.5μg/ml. However 74.57% and 22.65% of cell viability were produced by the concentration of 7.8μg/ml and 1000μg/ml respectively. The results showed the cytotoxic activity of ethanolic extract of Costus igneus leaves and proved the anticancer activity against liver cancer cells.