Abstract
The conventional drugs used to manage fever are usually not affordable, not easily available and have adverse side effects. Alternative therapeutic agents, like medicinal plant derivatives, should therefore be developed because they have been reported to be more affordable, more readily available and have lesser side effects. Terminalia brownii is traditionally used to manage fever but this ethno-medicinal claim lacks scientific validation. The present study therefore evaluated the anti-pyretic activity of T. brownii in Wistar rats. Fresh bark samples of T. brownii were collected from Kitui County, Kenya. This study used 30 adult male Wister rats that were 2-3 months old and weighing 140-180 g was used for the experiments. Steam-distilled turpentine was the pyrogen used to induce pyrexia and Aspirin was used as the reference drug. The extract reduced the elevated rectal temperatures by between 1.15-4.38% while aspirin reduced the elevated rectal temperatures by between 0.00-4.85%. The present study showed a significant dose-dependent anti-pyretic activity of methanolic bark extracts of T. brownii hence validating its folklore use as a fever remedy.
Highlights
Microbial infections, body tissue damage, chronic diseases and graft rejection elevates the body temperatures beyond the normal range of between 36.5-37.5°C, leading to pyrexia or fever [1,2]
The methanolic bark extracts of T. brownii showed antipyretic activity on the turpentine-induced pyrexia in rats and this was indicated by reduction in the rectal temperatures after extract administration (Figure 1, Table 2)
Significant anti-pyretic activity of the methanolic bark extract of T. brownii was demonstrated in the present study
Summary
Body tissue damage, chronic diseases and graft rejection elevates the body temperatures beyond the normal range of between 36.5-37.5°C, leading to pyrexia or fever [1,2]. Cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor α and β (TNF α and TNF β) and interleukins (IL-6, IL-α and IL-β) produced when the body is invaded by microorganisms or body tissues are damaged stimulates the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins, the major fever mediator, in the hypothalamus [3]. Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) are used in the management of pyrexia [5] Their use is declining due to their adverse gastrointestinal effects like bleeding, perforations and peptic ulcers [6]. Approximately 25% of available synthetic drugs are formulated either directly or indirectly from medicinal plants [9]
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