Antiplatelet Activity of Piper cubeba Fruit Ethanol Extract

http://www.doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v6i11.13

Abstract

The search for a new generation of antiplatelet agents from natural resources with favorable effects is promising. Preliminary research on the screening of antiplatelet agent from Indonesia medicinal plants have identified 10 out of 139 plant extracts. One of these active plant extracts is Piper cubeba fruit ethanol extract. The antiplatelet activity of P. cubeba fruit ethanol extract in different pathways of platelet aggregation was investigated to elucidate the mechanism of action of the extract as antiplatelet agent. Dry powder of P. cubeba fruit (500 g) was extracted with ethanol and the dried extract was used for the experiment. Cubebin is the major compound found in the fruit of P. cubeba. For standardization, we determined the levels of cubebin in the P. cubeba fruit ethanol extract by using densitometry method. Human platelet-rich plasma (487.5µL) was added to the extract solution (2.5 µL in Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) and incubated at 37°C for 3 minutes. The platelet aggregation was induced with 10 µL platelet receptor agonists (ADP, arachidonic acid, epinephrine, or thrombin) and the aggregation was measured for 8 minutes in an aggregometer. In this study, 2.97% cubebin was detected in the ethanol extract of P. cubeba fruit. The extract inhibited platelet aggregation induced by ADP, arachidonic acid, epinephrine, and thrombin with the IC50 of 813.30; 895.90; 883.40; and 1.090 µg/ ml respectively. This results suggested that the extract has moderate antiplatelet activity in several pathways of platelet aggregation.