Antiplatelet and antithrombotic effects of Morus alba leaves extract

Morus alba L. leaves has been used in fork medicine for the treatment of beriberi, edema, and diabetes and reported to have anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertension, liver protection, antiviral and antimicrobial activities. However, information on its anti-platelet and anti-thrombosis effects is limited. The current study was performed to examine the effects of M. alba leaves ethanol extract (MAE) in platelet aggregation and thrombosis. The anti-platelet activity of MAE was studied using rabbit platelets for in vitro determination of the extract effect on collagen-induced platelet aggregation, thromboxane B 2 (TXB 2 ) formation and serotonin secretion. The extract in vivo effects was also examined in arterio-venous shunt thrombus formation in rats. HPLC chromatographic analysis revealed that MAE contained rutin and isoquercitin. MAE significantly and dose dependently inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation with the 50 percent inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.42 mg/ml. MAE also attenuated serotonin secretion and thromboxane A 2 formation. In addition, the extract in vivo activity showed that MAE at 400, 200 and 100 mg/kg significantly and dose-dependently attenuated thrombus formation in rat arterio-venous shunt model by 52.3% (p < 0.001), 28.3% (p < 0.01) and 19.1% (p < 0.05), respectively . Fig. 1