Evaluation of Anti-Inflammatory and Antipyretic Activities of The Aqueous Stem Bark Extract of Lophira Lanceolata Van Tiegh. Ex Keay

Abstract

The bark of Lophira lanceolata (Ochnaceae) has been used traditionally for the treatment of many disease conditions such as dysentery, headaches, diarrhoea, cough, abdominal pains, fungal infections, nociception and cardiovascular diseases. However, no specific work on its anti-inflammatory or antipyretic effect has been reported which forms the basis of this study. This study evaluated the in-vivo anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities of the aqueous extract of the stem bark of Lophira lanceolata using laboratory animal model. The methods adopted for this study were formalin induced inflammation and yeast induced hyperpyrexia in rats. All the result was expressed as mean ± S.E. The data were statistically analysed by one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparison and p- values ˂0.05 were considered as significant. The result of this study showed a significant anti-inflammatory effect different from the control (distilled water) at p˂0.05 characterized by oedema formation, change in temperature, redness, and itching in the paw of the rats which is comparable with the standard indomethacin. The inhibition of oedema was statistically dose dependent as the group 4 rats which received 400 mg/kg body weight demonstrated more effect than the group 1 rats which received 100 mg/kg body weight of the aqueous extract of the stem bark of Lophira lanceolata. The aqueous Lophira lanceolata stem bark extract at the doses of (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg p.o) significantly (p<0.05) attenuates the pyrexia induced by yeast in rats in a manner statistically comparable with the standard drug Paracetamol, however, extract at the dose of 400 mg/kg body weight showed the highest antipyretic effect. Hence the antipyretic activity was also dose- dependent. The study demonstrated that the aqueous Lophira lanceolata stem bark extract possesses anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities.