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Achyranthes aspera L. (Amaranthaceae), an herbaceous roadside weed in various parts of India, has several therapeutic uses, including the treatment against cancer. This investigation was undertaken to identify the bioactive compounds conferring cytotoxicity to the extracts from its biomass. The powdered leaf, stem, and root biomass was extracted separately in ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, and methanol. Each extract was tested against the HeLa cell line for the cytotoxicity, but the root-acetone extract was the most cytotoxic. This extract revealed eleven bands. The solution obtained from the ninth band (Rf = 0.87±0.06) exhibited more than 90% inhibition of HeLa cells. The LCMS analysis of this solution showed the presence of 37 compounds, out of which few compounds had been reported from different plants to possess cytotoxicity in various systems.

An endophytic bacterium, AL2-16, was isolated from Achyranthes aspera L. It was characterized and identified as Serratia sp. AL2-16 and was experimented for the presence of plant growth-promoting properties. AL2-16 produced siderophore in iron-deficient conditions. The quantitative estimation of siderophore production unit of AL2-16 was maximum after 48 hours of incubation (83.488%) in the presence of 1 μM of ferric chloride. The fructose followed by glucose and sucrose were proved to be the best carbon sources resulting in appreciable amount of siderophore production, i.e. 77.223%, 73.584%, and 65.363% respectively. AL2-16 also has the ability to produce indole acetic acid in medium supplemented with l-tryptophan. The highest amount of indole acetic acid, in the presence of 1.0% l-tryptophan, was 123.2 μg/mL after 144 hours. This isolate solubilized inorganic phosphate and also gave positive result for ammonia production. Colonization and pot trial experiments were conducted on A. aspera L. plant. The population of AL2-16 increased from 16.2 × 106 to 11.2 × 108 colony forming unit/g between 3rd and 5th days after inoculation. It significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased shoot length by 95.52%, fresh shoot weight by 602.38%, fresh root weight by 438%, and area of leaves by 127.2% when inoculated with AL2-16, as compared with uninoculated control.

Background Obesity, reached epidemic proportions globally is often associated with life threatening comorbidities. The unavailability of safe and effective long term medications for obesity in modern pharmacotherapy forces the scientific community to explore the potential of Ayurvedic traditional healers as they are considered safe and effective. Objective To explore the anti-obesity potential of aqueous extract of aerial parts of Achyranthes aspera L. (AEAA), a traditional healer in high fat diet (HFD) induced obese rats. Methods AEAA was prepared and subjected to in-vitro pancreatic lipase inhibition assay and in-vivo anti-obesity studies. For in-vivo studies, HFD fed obese prone Wistar albino rats were divided into five experimental groups (Group II to VI): animals fed with standard pellet chow served as normal control (Group I) while, animals continued with HFD alone served as obese control (Group II); Group III, IV and V were administered AEAA at a dose of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg b.w. respectively along with HFD; and animals administered orlistat (30 mg/kg bw) along with HFD served as standard control (Group VI). All the drugs were administered orally once a day for a period of 60 days. At the end of the experimental period various physical, biochemical and histopathological observations were made. Results In-vitro studies showed AEAA partially but not significantly inhibited the activity of pancreatic lipase. Data of in-vivo studies revealed, significant reduction in body weights, fat pad weights and organ weights upon AEAA treatment. Elevated levels of glucose, insulin, leptin, lipid profiles and antioxidant status were also brought back to normal. Conclusion The obtained results clearly suggested that AEAA possess pronounced anti-obesity potential.

Hexane, chloroform and ethanol extracts of leaves of Agave americana L., seeds of Albizzia lebbek Benth and Achyranthes aspera L., and the whole plant of Abutilon indicum were tested for the antibacterial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Ethanol and chlorofonn extracts of Agave americana and Achyranthes aspera and ethanol extract of Albizzia lebbek exhibited mild to moderate antibiotic activity. Vacuum liquid chromatography isolated fractions from chloroform extract of Achyranthes aspera displayed antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antibacterial range of ethanol extract of Abutilon indicum was prominent than those of other organic extracts. Chloroform and ethanol extracts of Agave americana exhibited acute as well as chronic irritant activity on applying to the inner ear of male albino rabbits.

Polyphenolic compounds of Achyranthes aspera (PCA) extract is evaluated for anti-cancerous and cytokine based immunomodulatory effects. The PCA extract contains known components of phenolic acid and flavonoids such as mixture of quinic acid, chlorogenic acid, kaempferol, quercetin and chrysin along with many unknown components. PCA has been orally feed to urethane (ethyl carbamate) primed lung cancerous mice at a dosage of 100 mg/kg body weight for 30 consecutive days. 100 mg powder of A.   aspera contains 2.4 mg phenolic acid and 1.1 mg flavonoid (2:1 ratio). Enhanced activities and expression of antioxidant enzymes GST, GR, CAT, SOD, while down regulated expression and activation of LDH enzymes in PCA feed urethane primed lung cancerous tissues as compared to PCA non-feed urethane primed lung cancerous tissues were observed. PCA feed urethane primed lung tissues showed down regulated expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α along with TFs, NF-κB and Stat3 while the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and p53 were enhanced in PCA feed urethane primed lung tissues. FTIR and CD spectroscopy data revealed that PCA resisted the urethane mediated conformational changes of DNA which is evident by the shift in guanine and thymine bands in FTIR from 1,708 to 1,711 cm −1 and 1,675 to 1,671 cm −1 , respectively in PCA feed urethane primed lung cancerous tissues DNA in comparison to urethane primed lung cancerous tissues DNA. The present study suggests that PCA components have synergistic anti-cancerous and cytokine based immunomodulatory role and DNA conformation restoring effects. However, more research is required to show the effects of each component separately and in combination for effective therapeutic use to cure and prevent lung cancer including other cancers.