Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and healing effects of walnut leaves Juglans regia L. aqueous extract.

Abstract

As a part of the valorisation of medicinal plants of the Algerian flora, we have undertaken a study of plant extract ( Juglans regia L.) growing in the Blida region, Algeria. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the in vivo pharmacological effects, namely the anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and healing effects of common walnuts’s leaves aqueous extracts and ointment. The Carrageenan-induced paw edema test is used for screening of anti-inflammatory activity on 4 batches of mice (control batch, treated batch with Diclofenac® , treated batches with the aqueous extract at 5 and 10%), the analgesic effect was conducted using Acetic acid-induced endogenous spasm test, and the healing effect was conducted on rabbits. The anti-inflammatory test performed on laboratory mice, revealed a remarkable anti-inflammatory effect of the aqueous extract comparing with chosen standard pharmaceutical molecule (Diclofenac®), with a reduction percentage of 25 and 31.72 % for the aqueous extract and Diclofenac® respectively. The results for the analgesic effect was revealed to be significant comparing with those obtained with the reference product Spasfon. Finally, the healing effect was performed on rabbits, revealing high healing power comparing with those obtained with pharmaceutical healing paste ‘MADICASSOL” used as a reference. The ointment prepared using walnut leaves has shown more effectiveness with delay of healing less than a week compared to the ointment of reference which took almost 10 days for total healing effect. The obtained results confirm some information obtained during the ethnobotanical survey in a previous study; and that Juglans regia L. is endowed with an anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and healing properties.