Cyathula prostrata: A Potential Herbal Hope for Hypertensives, an Animal Model Study and Its Secondary Metabolites Assessment via GC-MS

Aim: The use of folkloric therapy in the management of ailments such a hypertension is a global phenomena. Extracts of Cyathula prostrata are used as alternate antihypertensive in Nigeria. This paper evaluated the scientific basis for such use.

Study Design: The study involved using rat model. High blood pressure was simulated in the rat via induction with adrenaline, while another group of rats was used without adrenaline administration. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the Cyathula prostrata were administered to the different rat sets. The work was carried out in Lagos, Nigeria in the second half of 2015.

Methodology: Cyathula prostrata extracts was administered in graded doses of 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg body weight to the different groups of animals. The presence of secondary metabolites in the extracts was assessed using standard phytochemistry techniques and verified using GC-MS.

Results: A total of 13 plant secondary metabolites were identified by GC-MS. Cyathula prostrata extracts effected a marked decrease in the measured blood pressure parameters of adrenaline induced hypertensive rats evaluated in this study.

Conclusion: In this study, orally administered Cyathula prostrata extracts reduced high blood pressure parameters in adrenaline induced hypertensive rats, with the most likely effectors being the secondary metabolites present in this extract. The outcome of this baseline study potentially validates the folkloric use of the extract as antihypertensives.