Original article Evaluation of antibacterial, antioxidant and nootropic activities of Tiliacora racemosa Colebr. leaves: In vitro and in vivo approach T. Vivek Kumar a , M. Vishalakshi a , M. Gangaraju a , Parijat Das c , Pratiti Roy c , Anindita Banerjee c , Sayan Dutta Gupta b, * a Department of Pharmacology, Gokaraju Rangaraju College of Pharmacy, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India b Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Gokaraju Rangaraju College of Pharmacy, Osmania University, Telangana State, Hyderabad 500090, India c Department of Microbiology, St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 4 November 2016 Received in revised form 23 November 2016 Accepted 4 December 2016 Keywords: Tiliacora racemosa Antibacterial Antioxidant Nootropic Bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids A B S T R A C T The antibacterial and antioxidant potential of Tiliacora racemosa leaf extracts in various solvents (methanolic, hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate) was determined. Additionally, the presence of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids in the plant prompted us to evaluate the nootropic activity of the methanolic extract in mice. Further, we seek to verify the nootropic effect by examining the anticholinesterase inhibition potential of the methanolic extract. The leaf extracts in various solvents were evaluated for their antibacterial and antioxidant activity by agar diffusion technique and a, a-diphenyl-b-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging method, respectively. The ex vivo acetylcholine esterase inhibitory activity of the methanolic extract was carried out by Ellman’s method in male Wistar rats. The nootropic capacity of the methanolic extract was examined in Swiss albino mice by utilizing the diazepam induced acute amnesic model. The chloroform/n-hexane and ethyl acetate fraction showed promising antioxidant and antibacterial (Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria) property, respectively. The methanolic extract was able to diminish the amnesic effect induced by diazepam (1 mg/kg i.p.) in mice. The extract also showed significant acetyl cholinesterase inhibition in rats. The findings prove that the memory enhancing capability is due to increased acetyl choline level at the nerve endings. The strong antioxidant nature and potential nootropic activity shown by the extract suggests its future usage in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer. © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction India is a vast repository of medicinal plants that are used in traditional medical treatments [1]. The rich source of Indian medicinal plants and its applications are well documented in indigenous systems as in Siddha, Ayurveda, Unani and Allopathy [2]. Plants have been used traditionally for centuries for the treatment of various disorders. They still play a vital role in disease prevention and treatment among majority of population in developing countries [3]. Plant-derived molecules are rich sources of diverse scaffolds that serve as the basis for rational drug design in medicinal chemistry [4]. It is a known fact that different plant parts exhibit wide-ranging therapeutic effect. Hence, any promising plant should be explored for their diverse medicinal properties [5]. Tiliacora racemosa Colebr. (Menispermaceae) is one such plant, which has triggered researcher’s interest owing to its diverse biological activity [6–9]. It is locally known as Tiliacoru, Kelelata or Bhaglata. It grows wildly in Eastern India and is an evergreen climbing shrub. It is used by local tribal population (Santhals, Mundas, Lodhas, Bhumijs, Oraon and Kherias) of paschim medinipur, West Bengal, India for the treatment of topical skin infections, snake/insect bites and filariasis [7–10]. In Ayurvedic system of medicine it is known as krishnavetra which offers remedy to a number of diseases mainly the cancerous ones [11]. The roots, leaves and fruits of the climber are rich source of bisbenzylisoquinoline (BBI) alkaloids [12]. The BBI alkaloids isolated from the plants are tiliacorine, tiliacorinine, tiliamosine, tiliaresine, tiliarine, N-methyltiliamosine, tiliacosine and tiliasine [13,14]. These alkaloids exhibits nootropic, antimicrobial, antifun- gal, antineoplastic and hypotensive effects [15–17]. The roots of the * Corresponding author. E-mail address: sayanduttagupta1@rediffmail.com (S. Dutta Gupta). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2016.12.030 0753-3322/© 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 86 (2017) 662–668 Available online at ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com