Abstract
BackgroundAlgesia and inflammation are related with several pathological conditions. It is known that many drugs available for the treatment of these problems cause unwanted side effects. This study was aimed at evaluating acute toxicity and anti-inflammatory activity of Lampaya medicinalis Phil. (Verbenaceae) widely used in the folk medicine of Northern Chile against rheumatism, arthritis and body joints pain.ResultsOral administration of hydroalcoholic extract (HAE) at the highest dose of 3000 mg/ Kg body weight resulted in no mortalities or evidence of significant behavioral changes. Histological examination revealed normal architecture and no significant adverse effects were observed on the liver, kidney, heart, lung or ovaries and testicles. The results suggest that the oral administration of hydroalcoholic extract (HAE) from Lampaya medicinalis did not produce any toxic effect in rats. Hydroalcoholic extract (HAE) significantly inhibited the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema in dose – response relationship, at test doses of 37.5, 75, 150 and 300 mg/Kg body weight. Maximum inhibition (61.98 ± 2.69%) was noted at 300 mg/Kg after 2 h of drug treatment carrageenan induced paw edema, whereas indomethacin produced 47.90 ± 1.16% of inhibition. The inhibitory values of edema at 3 h postcarrageenan were 31.04±0.75%, 40.51 ± 2.36%, 48.97 ± 1.14% and 56.87 ± 0.41% for 37.5, 75, 150, and 300 mg/kg of extract respectively. Indomethacin (10 mg/Kg) gave a percentage inhibition of 49.44 ± 1.44. HAE (300 and 150 mg/kg) induced an anti-inflammatory effect greater than (or comparable) with the effect of indomethacin from 2nd to 4th hours of the experiment.ConclusionsOur results reveal for first time that compounds contained in the hydroalcoholic extract of Lampaya medicinalis Phil exert anti-inflammatory effect and the oral administration is safe and non toxic up to dose level 3000 mg/kg body weight. The anti-inflammatory activity may be associated with the presence of flavonoids. These findings also justify the traditional use of the plant for treating pain.
Highlights
Algesia and inflammation are related with several pathological conditions
The objective of this research was to validate the use of Lampaya medicinalis for folklore medicine, anti-inflammatory potential of the hydroalcoholic extract from on carrageenan-induced rat paw edema was explored, toxicity was evaluated using an acute oral toxicity test in rats under the Organization for Economy Cooperation Development guidelines [12,13] and the phytochemical screening of hydroalcoholic extract was evaluated [14]
Acute toxicity study Lethality and behavioral analysis In this 14-days period of acute toxicity evaluation, rats given hydroalcoholic extract (HAE) from Lampaya medicinalis leaves in a single dose level of 3000 mg/kg body weight, showed no mortality and none of them showed any symptom of toxicity
Summary
It is known that many drugs available for the treatment of these problems cause unwanted side effects. Medicinal plants are popular remedies used by a majority of the worlds population. The efficacy of medicinal plant in the management of diseases is indubitable. The World Health Organization estimated that 80% of the population of developing countries, continues to use traditional medicine in primary medical problems. Information on the toxicity of the plants is very important as baseline before further exploring its development as a new herbal medicine [2]. Standard experimental methods are useful for the validation of ethnopharmacological knowledge regarding herbal medicine. Many studies are carried out to validate the use of medicinal plants in an effective and safe way [3,4]
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