A Mechanism for the Anti-inflammatory Activity of Gossypium Arboreum Linn Leaves

Abstract

The leaves of Gossypium arboreum are widely used in the preparation of traditional remedies for the treatment of arthritis, inflammation and pain. Membrane stabilizing activity of saline extract of the leaves of G. arboreum was investigated as a probable mechanism of anti-inflammatory action. The extract showed membrane stabilizing activities between 73.18 + 0.54% and 88.58 + 0.77% at an extract concentration range of 2.34 to 11.70mg/ml. The conventional drugs used as positive controls, acetylsalicylic acid and indomethacin, had membrane stabilizing activities of 9.34 + 0.86% – 16.41 ± 0.78% and 11.26 ± 1.17% -19.50 ± 0.87% respectively at concentrations of 0.2 to 1.0mg / ml saline. The results indicate that membrane stabilization is significant in explaining the anti-inflammatory activity of the leaves extract.

Keywords: Gossypium arboreum, anti-inflammatory activity, mechanism.ord

Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol. 6 (2) 2007: pp. 30-32