Abstract
Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf.), an Indian native herb belonging to the family of Poaceae, is used in popular medicine with a wide range of indications such as digestive and nervous disorders, inflammation, fever, diabetes [1,2]. In a previous study it was proved that, under inflammatory conditions, an essential oil-free infusion of C. citratus leaves allowed the cell viability and conferred significant reduction of the nitric oxide production in dendritic cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide [3]. Based on these findings, the aim of this work was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of an essential oil-free infusion of C. citratus leaves (CcE) in an animal model of acute inflammation. The carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema model was used [4], employing diclofenac as reference drug (10mg/kg). The test groups received the aqueous extracts at the doses of 200mg/kg (D1) and 400mg/kg (D2) p.o. The anti-inflammatory potency of the drugs was calculated at 4h after carrageenan administration and was expressed as percentage of oedema inhibition for the treated animals, with respect to the carrageenan control group. The results obtained were 39.00% for D1, 73.10% for D2 and 75.88% for positive control group, suggesting that oral treatment with CcE significantly prevents carrageenan-induced swelling in a dose-dependent manner, the potency of the higher CcE dose tested being comparable with that of the reference drug used.
Published Version
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