Curative effect of hydroalcoholic extract of leaves of Moringa oleifera Lam. against adjuvant induced established arthritis in rats

Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringacea) is cultivated through out India and is extensively used in Indian traditional medicine to treat different diseases. This study was carried out to explore relationship between oxidative stress and the inflammatory process, and extends more to investigate the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of leaves of Moringa oleifera Lam. (MOLE- a herbal remedy) in experimentally induced adjuvant-arthritis in Wistar rats. During the experimental period, body weight, paw edema volume (primary lesion), inflammation at noninjected sites of left hind paw and arthritic index (secondary lesion) were observed. On the 21st day, serum from each animal was used for estimation of Rheumatoid Factor (RF) value and  levels cytokines like TNFa, IL-1, and IL-6. Whole blood was used for measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). For assessment of  oxidative stress liver homogenate was utilized. Histopathology of synovial joint of each rat present in each group was performed to measure degree of inflammation. Our results suggest that, percentage reduction in body weight was found to be less, paw edema volume; arthritic index score and ESR was found to be decreased significantly in drug treated groups as compared with diseased control animals. Serum levels of RF, TNFa, IL-1, and IL-6 also showed decreased levels as compared with those in the disease control group. In addition, treatment with MOLE altered oxidative stress in relation to its anti-inflammatory activity. Histopathological sections from animals present in drug treatment group’s showed improvement which was confirmed by mild or moderate inflammation, less infiltration of lymphocytes and less angiogenesis as compared with sections from arthritic animals. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that Moringa oleifera leaves possess some antiarthritic properties.  Keywords: Moringa oleifera Lam; Leaves; Adjuvant arthritis; Cytokines