Evaluation of blood coagulation activity in aqueous extract from the stem of mikania micrantha / Muhammad Syakir Mazlan

Modern pro-coagulant drugs has unwanted side effects such as causing breathing difficulties and sensory problems. Thus, natural remedies such as the extract from the stems of Mikania micrantha could provide an alternative with less to no adverse effect. Mikania micrantha, which is considered as one of the worst weed in the world, has potential as a blood-clotting agent based on its traditional usage. Hence, aqueous extract was prepared using water via the decoction method. The concentrated extract was further serially diluted to prepare different concentrations using normal saline (12.5%, 25%, 50% and 100%) prior to coagulation assays (aPTT and PT tests). Commercial control plasma were added with the different concentrations of extract and their clotting time were recorded. For aPTT test, the extract was found to demonstrate significant reduction in clotting time for plasma added with 25%, 50% and 100% concentrations of extract. As for the PT test, only the plasma added with 100% concentration of extract was found to show significant reduction in clotting time. Therefore, observations from this study indicates that the aqueous extract from the stems of Mikania micrantha reduces the clotting time for both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of the coagulation cascade. As such, the stems of Mikania micrantha has potential to be used as a blood-clotting agent.