Volume 187, 1 July 2016, Pages 17–27
- a Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
- b Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
- c School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
- d Department of Pathology, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana
- Received 20 January 2016, Revised 2 April 2016, Accepted 15 April 2016, Available online 18 April 2016
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Phyllanthus muellerianus
(Kuntze) Exell. which belongs to the Family Euphorbiaceae is a shrub
widely distributed in West Africa. It is used traditionally to manage
wounds and wound infections, menstrual disorders, fevers, pain and
inflammation. Hence to confirm its ethnobotanical uses in managing
inflammation, we investigated the anti-inflammatory properties of
aqueous leaf extract of P. muellerianus (PLE) and its major isolate, geraniin in experimentally-induced inflammation in rats.
Materials and methods
Carrageenan induced oedema and adjuvant induced arthritis models in rats were used in this study.
Results
In
the carrageenan-induced acute inflammation, both 300 mg/kg PLE-treated
and 10 mg/kg geraniin-treated groups significantly reduced the mean
maximal swelling attained at 4 h to 46.75±4.97% (p<0.01) and 61.65±6.70% (p<0.05),
respectively, from the inflamed control response of 122.60±16.39%. In
the adjuvant-induced chronic inflammation, both PLE-treated (100 and
300 mg/kg) groups and geraniin-treated (10 and 30 mg/kg) groups
significantly (p<0.001) reduced the total limb swelling over
16 days in the polyarthritic phase compared to the arthritic control.
These observations were supported by the radiograph records and the
histological investigations of the hind limbs which showed reduced bone
damage in both PLE and geraniin-treated rats.
Conclusion
The
findings may confirm the ethnobotanical use of PLE in the management of
inflammatory disorders or conditions and observed anti-inflammatory
property of PLE may largely be due to its major constituent, geraniin.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Phyllanthus muellerianus;
- Geraniin;
- Inflammation;
- Anti-inflammatory
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