In vivo anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of the leaf extracts of clematis simensis fresen

Abstract

The anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of the 80% methanol extract (HE), and the various solvent fractions prepared by soxhlet extraction of the leaves of Clematis simensis Fresen were studied using carrageenan-induced guinea pig paw edema, and tail-flick and hot-plate models in mice, respectively. Activities observed vary with concentration and time. The anti-inflammatory and the antinociceptive activities of HE at a dose of 800 mg/kg were comparable to the activities of the standards employed in the study i.e. indomethacin (10 mg/kg) and morphine (10 mg/kg), respectively. However, the extract failed to show any activity at a dose of 200 mg/kg. HE was observed to possess anti-inflammatory activity at a dose of 400 mg/kg while it exerted antinociceptive property at a dose of 800 mg/kg. The acetone (AF) and methanol fractions (MF) exhibited anti-inflammatory activity, the latter also showed antinociceptive activity at concentrations of 100 and 200 mg/kg. Among the extracts, MF possessed greater anti-inflammatory activity than indomethacin and comparable antinociceptive activity to that of morphine in the hot plate test. The petroleum ether fraction (PEF) showed neither anti-inflammatory nor antinociceptive activity at the tested concentrations. The finding supports the traditional use and illustrated the correlation that exists between the popular perception with genuine anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of the leaves of C. simensis.

Key words: Clematis simensis, anti-inflammatory activity, antinociceptive activity, crude extract, solvent fractions