anti-inflammatory, antipruritic and mast cell stabilizing activity of aristolochia indica

objective(s) aristolochia indica has been widely used in the traditional medicine for the treatment of a variety of diseases. in the present study different extracts of roots of a. indica were evaluated for their anti­inflammatory, antipruritic and mast cell stabilizing activity. materials and methods anti-inflammatory activity was performed by compound 48/80 induced rat paw edema model and antipruritic activity by examining the incidence of scratching behavior. mast cell stabilizing activity was performed by compound 48/80 and sheep serum induced mast cell degranulation methods. results the ethanol extract (300 mg/kg) and petroleum ether extract (100 mg/kg) were found to inhibit mast cell degranulation significantly equivalent to that of standard drug ketotifen (69%) by compound 48/80 model. in sheep serum model the ethanol extracts (150 and 300 mg/kg) and petroleum ether extract (100 mg/kg) showed good mast cell stabilizing activity (66-67%). ethanol extract at 150 mg/kg showed 70% reduction of rat paw oedema and also significantly reduced the scratching response. conclusion results suggest a. indica has good mast cell stabilizing, anti-inflammatory and antipruritic activity.