Synergistic Effect, and Therapeutic Potential of Aqueous Prickly Pear Extract. In vivo Neuroleptic, Catatonic, and Hypoglycemic Activity

Abstract

Prickly pear "Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill. "otherwise known as the Indian fig tree, belongs to the family Cactaceae, and was known as a medicinal plant for its rich source of bioactive substances. The present work aims to promote prickly pear seeds for traditional therapy by phenolic profiling and pharmacological tests of aqueous extract. An analytical quantification was performed by UV-Visible, and the identification of different bioactive compounds was done by HPLC-DAD. For pharmacological screening, an in vivo evaluation of the various tests, neuroleptic activity which consists of testing the recovery reflex; catatonic activity which is a test to detect catalepsy that can be characterized in animals by the administration of neuroleptic drugs; and for hypoglycemic activity a test was performed to assess glucose tolerance. The administration of aqueous extract of the prickly pear seeds at a dose (400 mg/kg) allows a reduction in blood sugar with a maximum decrease of one and a half hours compared to the control group. This work makes it possible to postulate that the extract of prickly pear seeds is associated with a very interesting antihyperglycemic activity given its high content of phenolic compounds.