Attached
Introduction and Objectives: Nictanthes arbor-tristis Linn is one of the most useful
traditional medicinal plants in India. It is distributed widely in sub Himalayan regions and
Southward to Godavari. Each part of the plant has some medicinal value. The objective of
this study was to determine the anti-inflammatory activity of aqueous leaf extract of
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (ALENA) in Wistar rats.
Methodology: Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of
Sri Jayewardenepura approved the protocol (Approval No - 682/12). Animals were used in
the experiments adhering to the 3R principle. The extract was prepared according to the
traditional Ayurveda method as previously described (Hemachandra and Suresh, 2008) and
tested for anti-inflammatory activity in a carrageenan induced paw-oedema model. The
reductions of paw oedema in rats were compared with the reference drug i.e. Indomethacin.
Group 1(6 per group) was pretreated with distilled water at a dose of 5 ml/kg, Group 2 was
pretreated with Indomethacin at a dose of 10 mg/kg and the Group 3 was pretreated with
aqueous leaf extract of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, at a dose of 5 ml/kg (Hemachandra and
Suresh, 2008), 1 hour prior to the administration of carrageenan. Paw volumes were
measured hourly for 5 consecutive hours in carrageenan induced paw oedema models.
Several biochemical parameters were tested following admis
arbor-tristis Linn, did not exert any adverse effects as all the tested parameters (liver
enzymes and Hb) were not altered in the test and control groups.
Conclusion: The aqueous leaf extract of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis has potent antiinflammatory effect in Wistar rats.
