Life Science Journal 2013;10(1) http://www.lifesciencesite.com http://www.lifesciencesite.com lifesciencej@gmail.com 2705 Carbonic Anhydrase and Urease Inhibitory Effects of Sonchus Asper Ihsan Ullah Khan 1 , Naser M. AbdEIslam 2 , Farman Ullah Khan 3 , Arif-Ullah Khan 4 , Muhib Ullah 5 , Syed Badshah 3 , , Hidayatullah Khan 6 , Riaz Ullah 7* 1 Department of Chemistry, Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad Pakistan 2 Arriyadh Community College, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 3 Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Bannu -28100, KPK, Pakistan 4 Department of Pharmacy, Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, KPK, Pakistan 5 Department of Zoology, Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, KPK, Pakistan 6 Department of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology Bannu -28100, KPK, Pakistan 7 Department of Chemistry, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan Corresponding author; Dr Riaz Ullah. afridiriaz@yahoo.com Abstract: In present research, an attempt was made to explore the pharmacological potential of Sonchus asper. The crude extract of Sonchus asper and its resultant fractions were tested for the carbonic annhydrase and urease inhibitory actions. The chloroform fraction of Sonchus asper exhibited maximum carbonic anhydrase II inhibition of 58.0%, followed by the plant crude extract, n-hexane fraction and aqueous fraction with 42.6, 30.2 and 21.3% inhibition respectively. In urease inhibitory bioassays, n-hexane fraction possesses highest urease inhibition capacity of 24.1%, followed by chloroform fraction (19.1%), crude extract (5.4%) and aqueous fraction (3.4%). These results indicate that Sonchus asper exhibits carbonic anhydrase and urease inhibitory activities. The higher carbonic anhydrase and urease inhibitory profile observed respectively for chloroform and n-hexane fractions of Sonchus asper propose concentration of respective active compounds, which warrants further detail studies for their isolation and molecular identification. [Ihsan Ullah Khan, Naser M. AbdEIslam, Farman Ullah Khan, Arif-Ullah Khan, Muhib Ullah, Syed Badshah, , Hidayatullah Khan, Riaz Ullah. Carbonic Anhydrase and Urease Inhibitory Effects of Sonchus Asper. Life Sci J 2013;10(1):2705-2707] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com . 320 Key words: Sonchus asper, carbonic anhydrase, and urease inhibition 1. Introduction The genus Sonchus belongs to largest family of angiosperms namely, Asteraceae, which consist of almost 1535 genera and 23000 species (Bremer, 1994). In China, 8 species of the genus Sonchus has long been used as traditional remedy for the treatment of fever and inflammation as well as for purification and mobilization of blood circulation (Jiangsu, 1976). Studies on enzyme inhibition remain an important area of pharmaceutical research, since these studies have led to the discoveries of drugs useful in a variety of pathologies. The enzyme inhibitors can interact with enzymes and block their activity towards natural substrates. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, a group of medicines (acetazolamide) are well known for their diuretic effect (Ives, 2009). The urease inhibitors have recently attracted much attention as potential new anti-ulcer drugs. Ironically, urease was the first enzyme crystallized, but its mechanism of action is still largely misunderstood (Amtul et al., 2002). Unfortunately, few natural products have been discovered so far as carbonic anhydrase and urease inhibitors (Hussain et al., 2011), hence there is need to explore more inhibitors of aforementioned enzymes from natural resources. In this investigation, we reported that Sonchus asper crude extract and its resultant fractions exhibits carbonic anhydrase and urease inhibitory properties. 2. Material and Methods Plant materials and extraction: The plant Sonchus asper was collected at Parachinar Kurram agency, KPK, Pakistan in June 2009 and was identified by a taxonomist Zafar Iqbal, lecturer in Botany Department, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, Pakistan. The voucher specimen# 105DBK has been deposited in the herbarium of Botany Department, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, Pakistan. The whole plant was air-dried in shade for 20 days, chopped and crushed into fine powder with electrical grinder. The powdered plant (4.0 kg) was initially extracted with methanol (10 days x 3) at room temperature with occasional shaking. It was filtered through a muslin cloth and then through a Whatman qualitative grade 1 filter paper (Williamson et al., 1998). This procedure was repeated thrice and the combined filtrate was evaporated on rotary evaporator to a concentrated greenish syrupy mass, the crude extract of Sonchus asper, yielding approximately 3.25%. Activity-guided fractionation