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The search for novel pharmacological agents for various non-communicable diseases has grained increasing demand with the rising number of illness. We evaluated the activity of extracts of Wrightia antidysenterica for their antioxidant, antilipidemic and antiamylase activities. Wrightia antidysenterica is an endemic plant species in Sri Lanka. The plant materials were collected from Jaele, Sri Lanka. Finely powered leaves, stem, roots, flowers and the whole plant were subjected to sequential extraction with hexane, dichloromethane and methanol after continuous stirring for 24 hours. Antioxidant activities of these extracts were evaluated using DPPH and FRAP assays while antilipidemic and antidiabetic activities were investigated using lipase and amylase enzymes. We found that the methanol stem extract demonstrated the highest anti-oxidant activity with a mean IC50 value of 0.47 mg/ml. Results were compared to Butylatedhydroxytoluene (+ve control) which showed a mean IC50 value of 0.11 mg/ml. In the antilipidemic assay, several extracts showed activity similar to Orlistat which is a drug used currently to treat obesity (±ve control). Hexane, dichloromethane, methanol extracts obtained from the whole plant, dichloromethane flower extract and methanol stem extract showed inhibition similar to Orlistat (43%) at 1 mg/ml concentrations as follows respectively 39%, 39%, 39%. 40% and 38%. The antiamylase assay did not show activity with any of the Wrightia antidysenterica extracts. Hence, the results of the current study illustrate the presence of antioxidant and antilipidemic activity in Wrightia antidysenterica extracts. Further activity of these extracts tested using various bio-assays and chemical compounds will be isolated and characterized.
