Evaluation of anti-inflammatory and radical scavenging activity of an aqueous extract of Barleria cristata leaves

Barleria cristata Linn (family Acanthaceae) has been used traditionally for the treatment of variety of diseases including anemia, toothache and inflammatory disorders [1]. Due to lack of sufficient scientific evidence indicating the utility of this plant in the treatment of inflammation, the present study was aimed at investigating the potential anti inflammatory and free radical scavenging activity of the plant in different experimental screening methods. Anti-inflammatory activity of BCW at dose of 125, 250 and 500mg/kg was evaluated in acute inflammatory model, against carrageenan induced paw edema in rats and prostaglandins inhibitory activity in mice. Radical scavenging activity of BCW was evaluated by in vitro methods by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl) (IC₅₀=206.61µg/ml) and NO (Nitric oxide) (IC₅₀=289.01µg/ml) radicals. Experiment was performed in triplicate to minimize the errors. When evaluated in vivo in the acute inflammation, BCW significantly inhibited edema induced by carrageenan in rats and showed significant prostaglandin inhibitory activity in mice. Ascorbic acid and Indomethacin (10mg/kg) was used as a positive control. Results were analyzed by One-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test p<0.05 and considered significant as compared to control. It is concluded that, methanol extract of Barleria cristata Linn leaves exhibited significant anti-inflammatory and radical scavenging activity.

Reference: [1] Khare, C.P. (2009), Indian Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated Dictionary. 1st ed, Springer Verlag.