In vivo Antioxidant Activity of Sida cordifolia Linn. in K2Cr2o7 Induced Oxidative Stress by Measurement of Reactive Oxygen Species Levels in Rats

Ayurvedic textbooks ascribe many therapeutic properties such as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant actions to Sida cordifolia Linn. which contains many polyphenols in its roots and seeds. Evaluation of in vivo antioxidant action in rats of the aqueous extract of Sida cordifolia Linn. roots has been done by introducing potassium dichromate for creating acute and chronic oxidative stress. The Folin- Ciocalteu reagent was utilized for assessing the phenol content which was determined as 27.375 mg Gallic acid/gm. During the acute toxicity tests using mice, no significant adverse signs or symptoms of toxicity were noticed up to the dose of 1500 mg/kg and no mortality was reported until this dosage. The Phosphomolybdate Assay using 3, 6 and 9 mg/ml of research drug concentrations resulted in determination of the Total Antioxidant Capacity that was found to be 15.40 ±9.13, 19.00 ±7.56 and 21.02 ±8.42 gm equivalents of Ascorbic acid. The results of the d-ROMs test which assessed the hydroperoxide levels clearly suggested that introduction of research drug could significantly counter the negative effects of both acute and chronic oxidative stress. Broadly similar findings were obtained by using ELISA kit for assessing ROS values where concurrent administration of the research drug resulted in very significant amelioration in respect of oxidative stress conditions.