Evaluation of Anti-inflammatory Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Seeds of Holarrhena Pubescens (buch.- Ham.) Wall

Objective: To screen anti-inflammatory activity of ethanolic extract of seeds of Holarrhena pubescens using in vivo models for acute and chronic inflammation. Methods: Dried seeds of Holarrhena pubescens were extracted with ethanol and the extract (HPE) were then screened to investigate the presence of phytconstituents by preliminary phytochemical tests. The median lethal dose (LD50) of the test drug was assessed in acute toxicity study which was found to be 2000 mg/kg, and based on this study the oral doses of HPE were fixed to 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight to carry out the antiinflammatory activity. The anti-inflammatory activity of HPE was evaluated in this study using acute model, carrageenan-induced rat paw edema, as well as chronic models, like, cotton pellet induced granuloma formation and Freund’s Complete adjuvant induced arthritis in rat models. Indomethacin (10 mg/kg body weight) was used as a standard drug. Results: The preliminary phytochemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrate, glycosides, triterpenoids and steroids in test material (HPE). HPE exhibited the anti-inflammatory efficacy in dose dependent manner. 400 mg/kg dose of HPE showed maximum 74.07% (p<0.01) inhibition of carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. The test drug at the same dose level also showed the significant (p<0.01) 62.63% inhibition of granuloma formation and 77.95% inhibition of adjuvant induced arthritic edema in rats. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest the anti-inflammatory efficacy of ethanolic extract of seeds of H. pubescens and confirm the traditional use of the plant to treat inflammatory diseases.