Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disorder which involves the activation of immune system against the self-tissues. The main targets of this disease are the joints. Being systemic the development of this disease involves different mechanisms and thus the exact cause of this disease remains unknown. Although different drugs have been developed, none has been found to be the cure for this disease. In the current study the rat carrageenin paw was used as a model for acute inflammation and mycobacterium induced adjuvant arthritic model was used for exploring the antiarthritic potential of methanolic extract of
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by synovial inflammation and irreversible joint destruction and leads to significant disability [
Although different categories like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), immunosuppressants, and steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are in use, the limitation is their potential side effects. The development of new safe, potent, less toxic antiarthritic drug is the growing concern all over [
A large number of medicinal plants have been tested and found to contain active principles with curative properties against arthritis [
The current study was carried out to observe the effect of this medicinal herb on the acute and chronic inflammation and hence to evaluate its antiarthritic potential.
The plant material for
The whole plant material was cleaned, cut into small pieces, and shade dried. The plant material was pulverized into coarse powder and extracted successively using petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, methanol, and water, respectively, by soxhlet extraction. The solvents were allowed to evaporate in a rotary evaporator at 40°–45°C and the extracts obtained were stored in a refrigerator at 4°C. The yields of the petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, methanol, and aqueous extracts were 5.6, 4.3, 5.3, and 4.2% (w/w), for
Male albino Wistar rats (
Carrageenin-induced paw edema model [
The intradermal injection of dead mycobacteria (
Carrageenin-induced paw edema model was used to determine the acute inflammatory effect. Different plant extracts were screened for anti-inflammatory activity at a dose of 250 mg/kg bw. Methanolic fraction was found to have the maximum potential for suppressing the inflammatory response. The observed inhibitory effect in the paw edema was 47.62%. The results obtained in the methanolic fraction were found to be significantly (
Graph showing effect on paw edema of Wistar ratsby different extracts of
Since methanolic fraction showed the maximum effect against inflammation, the same experiment was repeated with methanolic extract administered in different doses (50–750 mg/kg bw) orally to different groups. One group was kept as control and was given normal saline with 1% tween 20 in it. Diclofenac was taken as the standard drug and was administered to other groups at a dose of 20 mg/kg bw. Each group contained five animals. Animals taken for this study were male Wistar rats. The anti-inflammatory activity was seen by checking the decrease in paw edema after 4 h. The results showed increased dose-dependent activity of methanolic extract. At a dose of 750 mg/kg bw maximum activity was shown by methanolic extract which was even found to be higher than that of the standard drug. The inhibition in paw edema at this dose was 67.27% while the group which was given diclofenac showed 56.36% inhibition in paw edema (Table
Effect of methanolic extract of
S. number | Groups | Dose (mg/kg) | Initial paw vol. (mL) | Paw vol. after 4 h (mL) | Edema (4 h) | %age inhibition (4 h) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Control | NS | 0.94 ± 0.024 | 2.04 ± 0.06 | 1.1 ± 0.055a | — |
2 | GI | 50 | 0.96 ± 0.04 | 1.98 ± 0.1 | 1.02 ± 0.1a | 7.27 |
3 | GII | 100 | 1.04 ± 0.068 | 1.94 ± 0.081 | 0.9 ± 0.083a | 18.18 |
4 | GIII | 250 | 1.1 ± 0.045 | 1.68 ± 0.037 | 0.58b | 47.27 |
5 | GIV | 500 | 1.02 ± 0.02 | 1.46 ± 0.068 | 0.44 ± 0.06b | 60 |
6 | GV | 750 | 1.06 ± 0.051 | 1.42 ± 0.058 | 0.36 ± 0.081b | 67.27 |
7 | Diclofenac | 20 | 1.04 ± 0.051 | 1.52 ± 0.037 | 0.48 ± 0.037b | 56.36 |
Values along the same column with different superscripts are statistically significant to each other using Tukey’s HSD test (
Experimental models have suggested that mycobacterial infections can trigger autoimmune arthritis, mainly through T-cell mediated responses. The methanolic extract was found to show activity against acute inflammation in the previous study. In order to see whether methanolic extract will have the same effect on chronic inflammation, adjuvant induced arthritis model was selected. For this study, male Wistar rats were taken in seven groups with each group having the same number of animals (
Effect of methanolic extract of
Drug | Dose (mg/kg bw) | Body weight (g) |
Edema (4 days) | Edema (7 days) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Control | NS | 145.6 ± 1.29 | 2.64 ± 0.22 | 2 ± 0.13 |
GI | 50 | 148 ± 3.16 | 2.06 ± 0.12 | 1.58 ± 0.21 |
GII | 100 | 149.8 ± 3.14 | 1.9 ± 0.18* | 1.46 ± 0.17 |
GIII | 250 | 148.2 ± 3.07 | 1.68 ± 0.13* | 1.26 ± 0.1* |
GIV | 500 | 150 ± 2.34 | 1.52 ± 0.17* | 1.12 ± 0.11* |
GV | 750 | 148.2 ± 2.65 | 1.36 ± 0.15* | 1.02 ± 0.04* |
Diclofenac | 20 | 151 ± 2.76 | 0.36 ± 0.09* | 0.4 ± 0.06* |
Values are represented as mean ± S.E. (
Effect of methanolic extract of
Drug | Dose (mg/kg bw) | Body weight (g) |
Edema (11 days) |
Edema (14 days) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Control | NS | 156.2 ± 3.64 | 2.14 ± 0.09 | 2.02 ± 0.09 |
GI | 50 | 156.4 ± 2.84 | 1.66 ± 0.17 | 1.46 ± 0.27 |
GII | 100 | 158.2 ± 3.34 | 1.46 ± 0.28 | 1.28 ± 0.12 |
GIII | 250 | 159.2 ± 3.38 | 1.24 ± 0.15* | 1.02 ± 0.21* |
GIV | 500 | 158.6 ± 1.94 | 1.08 ± 0.16* | 0.78 ± 0.28* |
GV | 750 | 160.2 ± 2.11 | 0.94 ± 0.07* | 0.68 ± 0.09* |
Diclofenac | 20 | 159.4 ± 1.69 | 0.64 ± 0.06* | 0.66 ± 0.15* |
Values are represented as mean ± S.E. (
Dose and time dependent inhibition of paw edema in adjuvant arthritis with different concentrations of methanolic extract of
In this study, the anti-inflammatory potential of different extracts obtained from
In adjuvant arthritis, the cellular immune response to mycobacterial antigens has been detected and is probably involved in the development of arthritis [
Results of the present study contribute towards the exploration of this herbal drug in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. However, no animal model completely depicts the pathophysiology and disease progression in this debilitating disease. Therefore, further investigational studies are required to elucidate the exact mechanism and the identification of the bioactive compound from this herbal extract. From the results obtained it can be concluded that this extract may serve as a source of drug against the rheumatoid arthritis.
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
The authors are highly thankful to the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu, India, for providing the facilities in accomplishing this research work.