Puga (Areca Catechu)

Recent Research on Puga (Areca catechu)

• A study was designed to investigate the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of A. catechu L. nut (ANE) treatment on migraine pain in rat models to strengthen its use as an anti-migraine therapy. The PPE was reduced in both ANE-treated groups of rats. The percent fluorescein was significantly increased in the positive control group (97.00+- 7%, p < 0.0001) compared to the negative control (63.87+- 1.2%). With ANE treatments (250 and 500 mg/ kg) PPE was significantly decreased to 88.88+-1.4% (p < 0.01) and 83.55 +- .01% (p < 0.0001) compared to the positive control group, respectively. On the other hand in the model of vocalization, with 250 and 500 mg/ kg ANE treatment, vocalization was significantly reduced to 33.33% and 16.66%, respectively, compared to saline-treated rats. The reduction in vocalization is comparable to the reference drug sumatriptan. The findings provide strong evidence for the anti-migraine potential of ANE in rat models of migraine. In summary, therapeutic intervention with ANE treatment could be a promising strategy for the prevention of migraine. Bhandare AM’, Vyawahare NS, Kshirsagar AD 3. Anti-migraine effect of Areca Catechu L. nut extract in bradykinin-induced plasma protein extravasation and vocalization in rats. J Ethnopharmacol. 2015 Aug 2; 171: 121- 4.
• Rahman, Md & Sultana, Papeya & Islam, Md Sahidul & Mahmud, Md & Rashid, Md. Mamun & Hossen, Foysal. (2014). Comparative Antimicrobial Activity of Areca Catechu Nut Extracts using Different Extracting Solvents. Bangladesh Journal of Microbiology. 31. 19- 23. 10.  3329/ BMJ. v31i1. 28460. Scientists from different sectors are investigating plants for their antimicrobial usefulness. Studies have found thousands of plants that have inhibitory effects on a range of microorganisms in vitro. Surprisingly, only around 10% of all the plants have been investigated for this purpose. The antimicrobial properties of Areca catechu nut extract have been reported earlier. In our study, we have observed and compared the antibacterial activity among n-hexane, ethanol, and water extract of A. catechu nut. We found an antimicrobial effect only from ethanol and water extract. On the contrary, there was no antibacterial effect observed from the n-hexane extract. Furthermore, the extracts are effective only against gram-positive bacteria. The ethanol extract concentration from 0.188- 0.377 mg/ml was the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for gram-positive bacteria used in our study. While minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were 0.377-0.753 mg/ml for this group of microorganisms. On the other hand, in the case of water extract the MIC and MBC were 0.047-1.56 and 0.094-3.125 mg/ml respectively for Gram-positive organisms. This study suggests that A. catechu nut extract can be a potential source for developing antibacterial agents against Gram-positive bacteria which are commonly found in the human oral cavity and responsible for dental caries. Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 31, Number 1- 2, June- Dec 2014, pp 19- 23
• The study evaluated the protective effects of Areca catechu nut extract (ANE) on a cuprizone-induced demyelination mouse model. Two doses of ANE (1% and 2%) were administered orally in the diet for 8 weeks. Animals subjected to demyelination showed impaired spatial memory and less social activity. In addition, mice subjected to demyelination displayed significant myelin damage in the cortex and demonstrated a higher expression of NG2 and PDGFRo, and AMPK activation. ANE treatment not only significantly enhanced cognitive ability and social activity, but also protected myelin against cuprizone toxicity by promoting oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation. In addition, ANE treatment demonstrated significant dephosphorylation of AMPKa, indicating a regulatory role for ANE in schizophrenia. This study showed that ANE treatment may enhance cognitive ability and social activity by facilitating OPC differentiation and protecting against myelin damage in the cortex. Results also suggest the AMPK signaling pathway may be involved in this process. Adilijiang A’, Guan T2, He J’3, Hartle K°, Wang W4, Li X3. The Protective Effects of Areca Catechu Extract on Cognition and Social Interaction Deficits in a Cuprizone-Induced Demyelination Model. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015; 2015: 426092.
• The alcoholic extract of the nuts exerted distinct oxytocic activity on the isolated rat uterus at a dose of 100 mcg (Garg & Garg, 1970).
• Meutia Sari, Liza & Subita, Gus & Auerkari, Elza. (2017). Potential antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of areca nut (Areca catechu Linn.) extract in human oral squamous cell carcinoma and keratinocyte cells. Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research. 10. 286. 10. 22159/a PCR. 2017. v10i10. 20287. Objectives: Areca (betel, Areca catechu) nuts have been reported to show high contents of phenolic and flavonoid compounds with associated antioxidant activity. This study was undertaken to assess the anticancer potential of areca nut extract on human squamous carcinoma (HSC)- 3, HSC- 2, and human keratinocyte (Ha Cat) cancer cell lines, and to elucidate the mechanism of its action. Methods: In this study, the areca nut extract was prepared in 96% ethanol and analyzed for the total phenolic and flavonoid content, 2, 2- diphenyl- 1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, and 5- (3- carboxy- methoxyphenyl)- 2- (4, 5- dimenthylthiazoly)- 3- (4- sulfophenyl) tetrazolium inner salt assay. Results: The indicated total phenolic content of the areca nut extract was 80.3 mg tannic acid equivalent/g and the total flavonoid content was 238.5 mg catechin equivalent/g. The extract showed good scavenging activity against DPPH radical (efficient concentration 15.95± 0.84 μg / ml). The extract showed higher toxicity in HSC-3 than HSC- 2 cells, IC50 was 164.06 μg/ ml in HSC-3 versus 629.50 μg/ ml in HSC-2. The extract had no cytotoxic effect on HaCat cells. Conclusions: The antioxidant activity of the areca nut extract might be associated with the presence of high content of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. The extract showed selective cytotoxicity against HSC-3 and HSC-2 cells but not on HaCat cells. Instead, the extract induced a high rate of proliferation in HaCat cells.
• The alkaline extract was found to be most potent in intensity as well as duration of vasoconstriction followed by the alcoholic extract. The aqueous and acid extracts had mild activity (Sirsi et al., 1963a).
• Bharathithasan, Madhuri & Ravindran, Darvin & Rajendran, Dinesh & Chun, Sim & Abbas, Seham & Sugathan, Sandeep & Yahaya, Zary & Said, Abd & Oh, Wen-Da & Kotra, Vijay & Mathews, Datuk Dr & Mohd Amin, Mohamad Faiz & Ishak, Intan & Ravi, Rajiv. (2021). Analysis of chemical compositions and larvicidal activity of nut extracts from Areca catechu Linn against Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae). PLOS ONE. 16. e0260281. 10. 1371/ journal. pone. 0260281. The Areca catechu nut collected from Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia was grounded into powder and used for Soxhlet extraction. The chemical analysis of the extracts and their structures were identified using the GCMS- QP2010 Ultra (Shimadzu) system. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Chemistry WebBook, Standard Reference Database 69 (https:// webbook. nist. gov/ chemistry) and PubChem ( https:// pubchem. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov), the two databases used to retrieve the synonyms, molecular formula, molecular weight, and 2- dimensional (2D) structure of chemical compounds. Next, following WHO procedures for larval bioassays, the extracts were used to assess larvicidal activity against early 4th  instar larvae of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The larvicidal activities were observed against early 4 th stage larvae with different concentrations in the range from 200 mg/ L to 1600 mg/ L. The LC 50 and LC 95 of Aedes aegypti were 621 mg/ L and 2264 mg/ L respectively, whereas the LC 50 and LC 95 of Aedes albopictus were 636 mg/ L and 2268 mg/ L respectively. Mortality was not observed in the non-target organism test. The analysis using gas chromatography and mass spectrometer recovered several chemical compounds such as Arecaidine, Dodecanoic acid, Methyl tetradecane, Tetradecanoic acid, and n- Hexadecanoic acid bioactive components. These chemical constituents were used as additive formulations in pesticides, pest control, insect repellent, and insecticidal agents. Our study showed significant outcomes from the extract of Areca catechu nut and it deserves further investigation concerning chemical components and larvicidal actions between different species of Aedes mosquitoes. Even though all these findings are fundamental, they may have some interesting potential to be developed as natural bio-larvicidal products.
• Adilijiang, Abulimiti & Guan, Teng & He, Jue & Hartle, Kelly & Wang, Wenqiang & Li, Xinmin. (2015). The Protective Effects of Areca Catechu Extract on Cognition and Social Interaction Deficits in a Cuprizone-Induced Demyelination Model. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2015. 10. 1155/ 2015/ 426092. Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric illness with an unclear cause. One theory is that demyelination of white matter is one of the main pathological factors involved in the development of schizophrenia. The current study evaluated the protective effects of Areca catechu nut extract (ANE) on a cuprizone-induced demyelination mouse model. Two doses of ANE (1% and 2%) were administered orally in the diet for 8 weeks. Animals subjected to demyelination showed impaired spatial memory and less social activity. In addition, mice subjected to demyelination displayed significant myelin damage in the cortex and demonstrated a higher expression of NG2 and PDGFRα and AMPK activation. ANE treatment not only significantly enhanced cognitive ability and social activity, but also protected myelin against cuprizone toxicity by promoting oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation. In addition, ANE treatment demonstrated significant dephosphorylation of AMPKα, indicating a regulatory role for ANE in schizophrenia. This study showed that ANE treatment may enhance cognitive ability and social activity by facilitating OPC differentiation and protecting against myelin damage in the cortex. Results also suggest the AMPK signaling pathway may be involved in this process.
• Arecoline, an alkaloid isolated from the nuts (1 mg/kg, i.p.) induced slight sedation in rats at the end of five minutes in the “maze learning” technique (Sirsi, 1967).
• Pradeep, Sushma & Prabhuswaminath, Samudyata & Reddy, Pruthvish & Srinivasa, Sudhanva & Shati, Ali & Alfaifi, Mohammad & Elbehairi, Serag & Achar, Raghu Ram & Silina, Ekaterina & Stupin, Victor & Manturova, Natalia & Glossman-Mitnik, Daniel & Shivamallu, Chandan & Kollur, Shiva Prasad. (2022). Anticholinesterase activity of Areca Catechu: In Vitro and silico green synthesis approach in the search for therapeutic agents against Alzheimer’s disease. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 13. 1044248. 10. 3389/ fphar. 2022. 1044248. For many years, the primary focus has been on finding effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which has led to the identification of promising therapeutic targets. The necessity for AD stage-dependent optimal settings necessitated a herbal therapy strategy. The plant species Areca Catechu L. (AC) was selected based on its traditional uses against CNS-related diseases. AC leaf extract was prepared using a Soxhlet extraction method and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAp- NPs) were synthesized from the same (AC-HAp- NPs). Powder X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to confirm the structure and morphology of the as-prepared AC- HAp- NPs. The crystalline character of the AC- HAp- NPs was visible in the XRD pattern. The synthesized material was found to be a nanoflake, with an average diameter of 15–20 nm, according to SEM analysis. The TEM and SAED pictures also revealed the form and size of AC- HAp- NPs. In vitro anti-acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase (AChE and BChE) activities of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles produced from an AC leaf extract were tested in this study. When compared to the control, AC- HAp- NPs had higher anti-AChE and BChE activity. The anti-acetylcholinesterase action of phytoconstituents generated from AC leaf extract was mediated by 4AQD and 4EY7, according to a mechanistic study conducted utilizing silico research. The global and local descriptors, which are the underpinnings of Conceptual Density Functional Theory (CDFT), have been predicted through the MN12SX/ Def2TZVP/ H2O model chemistry to help in the comprehension of the chemical reactivity properties of the five ligands considered in this study. The CDFT experiments are supplemented by the calculation of several useful calculated pharmacokinetics indices, and their expected biological targets connected to the bioavailability of the five ligands to further the goal of studying their bioactivity.
• Meti, Vinayak & Ruckmani, A & Professor, & Krishna, Kavitha. (2014). ANXIOLYTIC AND ANTI-DEPRESSANT ACTIVITY OF ARECA CATECHU LINN. IN MICE. world journal of pharmaceutical research. 3045. 1367-1376. Seventy-two Swiss adult albino mice weighing 25–30 grams were divided equally into three groups and allocated to the Forced swim test (FST), Tail suspension (TST), and elevated plus maze test (EPM). FST and TST were used to evaluate antidepressant activity and EPM for anxiolytic activity. Each group had 4 subgroups (control, standard, and the 2 test groups) of 6 animals in each. The control group received the vehicle, gum acacia; standard group 1, Diazepam (for EPM), Standard group 2, Imipramine (For FST and TST) and the 2 test groups received the aqueous (AEAC) and methanolic extract (MEAC) of areca catechu. For the acute study, a single dose was given 60 min before the experiment and for the chronic study, the drugs were given once a day for 15 days. Statistical analysis was performed using Mean +/-SD. ANOVA followed by Student–Newman–Keuls as the post hoc test. AEAC and MEAC have shown significant anxiolytic activity greater than diazepam in the EPM test. The antidepressant activity of both AEAC and MEAC was comparable to Imipramine in FST and TST. The present study has shown that both AEAC and MEAC have anxiolytic and antidepressant activity. The anxiolytic activity was greater than Diazepam and antidepressant activity is comparable to Imipramine.
• Phaechamud, Thawatchai & Toprasri, Photchanart & Chinpaisal, Chatchai. (2009). Antioxidant activity of Areca catechu extracts in human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cell lines. Pharmaceutical Biology. 47. 242- 247. 10. 1080/ 13880200802434203. The effect of aqueous and various organic extracts from the different parts of Areca catechu L. (Arecaceae) on oxidative DNA damage in human hepatocarcinoma Hep G2 cells were investigated using single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay. A comparison of a series of organic extracts from the nut husk and different parts of this plant was performed. Incubation of methanol extract of Areca nut husk showed a dose-dependent inhibition of comet formation while other solvent extracts did not. Significant protection of H2O2-induced DNA damage was observed at 0.1% w/v concentration which was at the same level of protection by 1 μM butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The age of the Areca catechu nut husk also played an important role in chemical constituents exhibiting antioxidation since only two out of five different ages of husks displayed anti-oxidative effects in the comet assay. Among the different parts of this plant that were tested, the nut husk was the only consistent part that demonstrated antioxidant activity.
• The action of the extract of nuts and human blood leukocytes in vitro revealed that the extract had a depressing effect on normal phagocytic function (Broker and Bhat, 1952).
• Cyriac, Maria & Vidya, Pai & Varghese, Ipe & Shantaram, Manjula & Jose, Maji. (2012). Antimicrobial properties of Areca catechu (Areca nut) husk extracts against common oral pathogens. International Journal of Research in Ayurveda and Pharmacy. 3. 81- 84. The husk fibers of Areca catechu (areca nut) are reported to be used by the people of rural areas of Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka for cleaning their teeth. The beneficial effects of these plant materials are not scientifically proven, so the study was carried out to estimate the antimicrobial properties of A. catechu against common oral pathogens. These antimicrobial properties in addition to the mechanical cleansing property of the fibers of areca nuts could improve oral health. Alcoholic and aqueous extracts of husk of Areca catechu were prepared and antimicrobial properties against common oral pathogens like Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus mitis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Candida albicans, Prevotella intermedia were performed by agar well diffusion method. Alcoholic extract of Areca catechu husk fibers showed a dose-dependent positive inhibitory effect against Candida albicans with a zone of inhibition of 5- 9 mm. Alcoholic and aqueous extracts did not show significant antimicrobial activity against other tested organisms. As our study failed to demonstrate the significant inhibitory effect on cariogenic organisms and a periodontal pathogen, we conclude that areca husk, when used for routine oral care, would improve oral health primarily through mechanical cleansing rather than antimicrobial activity. However, the results indicate that areca husk contains chemical components that have an antifungal effect. Therefore this plant material can be a potential source for developing natural antifungal agents against C. albicans which is a common oral pathogen.
• Lee, Kang & Wardani, Giftania & Kim, Jisu & Dirgantara, Septriyanto & Maeng, Won & Hong, Heeok. (2014). The anti-inflammatory effect of Indonesian Areca catechu leaf extract in vitro and in vivo. Nutrition research and practice. 8. 267-71. 10. 4162/nr. 2014. 8. 3. 267. OBJECTIVES Overproduction of nitric oxide (NO) by the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) enzyme can cause inflammation. Cyclooxygenase- 2 (COX- 2) is also involved in the inflammatory response through the regulation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF- κB). Areca catechu is one of the known fruit plants of the Palmaceae family. It has been used for a long time as a source of herbal medicine in Indonesia. In this study, we explored the effect of Indonesian Areca catechu leaf ethanol extract (ACE) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- induced inflammation and carrageenan-induced paw edema models. Recently, this natural extract has been in the spotlight because of its efficacy and limited or no toxic side effects. However, the mechanism underlying its anti-inflammatory effect remains to be elucidated. We measured NO production by using the Griess reagent and determined the expression levels of inflammation-related proteins, such as iNOS, COX2, and NF- κB, by western blot. To confirm the effect of ACE in vivo, we used the carrageenan-induced paw edema model. Compared to untreated cells, LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells treated with ACE showed reduced NO generation and reduced iNOS and COX-2 expression. We found that the acute inflammatory response was significantly reduced by ACE in the carrageenan-induced paw edema model. Taken together, these results suggest that ACE can inhibit inflammation and modulate NO generation via the downregulation of iNOS levels and NF- κB signaling in vitro and in vivo. ACE may have a potential medical benefit as an anti-inflammatory agent.