Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Extracts of Leaves of Hygrophila Spinosa T. Anders in Chronic Animal Models of Inflammation

Hygrophila spinosa T. Anders (Acanthaceae) is traditionally used in Indian medicine for the treatment of microbial infections, liver diseases, cancer, inflammation, rheumatism, diabetes, pain, fever etc. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of chloroform and alcoholic extracts of the leaves of H. spinosa in chronic inflammation models in rats as our previous study revealed that these two extracts had anti-inflammatory activity in carrageenan induced paw oedema model. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by cotton pellet-induced granuloma and Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Antioxidant activity of the extracts was revealed by their scavenging activity of the stable 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and a flavonoid compound (apigenin) was also isolated and characterized from the alcoholic extract of the plant. Chloroform and alcoholic extracts showed anti-inflammatory activity both in cotton pellet-induced granuloma and Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis in a dose dependent manner. The decrease in body weight due to injection of CFA was improved significantly by the above two extracts also. Both the extracts also exhibited antioxidant activity. The results demonstrated that H. spinosa has anti-inflammatory activity in chronic models of inflammation which support the traditional use of H. spinosa in the treatment of rheumatism.