Anti-inflammatroy activity of the mehanolic extract of Acanthus montanus

Acanthus montanus (Nees) T. Anders (Acanthaceae) is locally used in the treatment of cough, backache, chest pain and rheumatic pains. The ethno-medical uses of this plant and the need to establish its pharmacological effects have prompted this present study. The anti-inflammatory activity of the methanolic extract of Acanthus montanus was investigated using acute and sub-acute inflammatory models such as paw oedema, granuloma pouch and pleurisy in rats as well as xylene ear oedema in mice. Acanthus montanus was found to possess anti-inflammatory activity and was effective, orally, in suppressing various experimentally induced inflammatory reactions. Significant dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effects with doses of 100-400mg/kg were observed on acute inflammatory models such as carrageenan- and arachidonic acid-induced oedema, xylene-induced ear oedema in mice, carrageenan-induced granuloma pouch and pleurisy in rats. However, the extract did not inhibit egg albumin-induced oedema. On the basis of the study, it may be inferred that Acanthus montanus may be a useful anti-inflammatory agent, which inhibits cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways at the level of phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Keywords : Acanthus montanus , anti-inflammatory activity, rat paw oedema, xylene ear oedema, pleurisy, carrageenan. West African Journal of Pharmacology and Drug Research Vol. 21 (1&2) 2005: pp. 13-17