Antioxidant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of the herb Eclipta Prostrate

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the antioxidant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory potential of the methanolic extract along with its organic soluble fractions of the herb Eclipta prostrata. In addition, total phenolic and flavonoid content and total antioxidant capacity were also determined. Antioxidant potential of the extract/fractions was evaluated by DPPH (1,1diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl), NO (nitric oxide) and ONOO- (peroxynitrite) scavenging assay method. Ethyl acetate fractions (EtOAc) showed highest scavenging activity in all the methods with IC50 value of 12.98±0.08, 45.98±0.07 and 14.45±0.18 μg mL-1 for DPPH, NO and ONOO- assay method, respectively. In reducing power assay, EtOAc fraction also showed significant (p<0.001) activity. Further, the extract/fractions were studied for their analgesic (hot plate, tail immersion and acetic acid induced writhing test) and anti-inflammatory (carrageenan induced paw edema in rats) activities at a dose level of 200 and 400 mg kg-1 body weight. Among all the extract/fractions, EtOAc fraction showed a dose dependent and significant (p<0.005, p<0.05) analgesic activity in all the tested method. EtOAc fractions also reduced the paw edema considerably (86.80% inhibition after 3 h, p<0.005, p<0.05) in dose dependent manner compared to carrageenan induced rat. Altogether, these results suggest that the MeOH extract and its organic soluble fractions could be used as a potential antioxidant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent