In vitro assessment of anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effects of Helicanthes elasticus (Desv.) Danser accessions collected from six different hosts.

Abstract

Arthritis and other rheumatoid or non-rheumatoid joint inflammations are prevalent among people all around the world. The plant-derived drugs and other herbal therapeutic practices are widely used against these malfunctions. Helicanthes elasticus (Desv.) Danser, an endemic hemiparasite was found less exploited for these types of disorders and this plant collected from different hosts might be having differential expression towards such ailments. In order to asses this differential expression, in the present study, methanolic extract of Helicanthes elasticus collected from six different hosts were examined for HRBC membrane stabilization assay for anti-inflammatory responses and the protein denaturation method for anti-arthritic assay. Anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic potential were observed in H. elasticus growing on different hosts. The hemiparasitic plant obtained from Hevea brasiliensis, Nerium oleander and Anacardium occidentale showed high anti-inflammatory responses whereas those from Nerium oleander had high anti-arthritic efficacy. H. elasticus showed a therapeutically significant effect on arthritis and inflammatory responses in humans and the efficacy of the curative property showed variation with respect to the host plant in which the parasite has hemiparasite found growing.