Anti-inflammatory Studies in Relation to Chemical Evaluation on Two Species of an Indigenous Drug ‘barleria’

Objective: The present study was aimed to assess the anti-inflammatory activity profile of Barleria spp. viz., B. prionitis Linn. and B. cristata Linn. against different models of inflammation in female rats. Methods: Seven different extracts viz., mother extract (methanolic, ME, maceration), hexane (HE), chloroform (CE), ethyl acetate (EAE), butanol (BE) and left aqueous (LAE) extract obtained after partitioning of ME and total aqueous extract (TAE, maceration) of each Barleria spp. were evaluated chemically and biologically. The LD50 Results: Both Barleria species showed anti-inflammatory results with matching chemical profile. B. prionitis with more intense spots of major compounds exhibited maximum protection at 400 mg/kg for methanolic extract with per cent protection of 73.83 (3 h) in the carrageenan model and 42.04 (wet basis) in cotton pellet induced inflammation, respectively. A promising activity against histamine and dextran induced inflammation was shown by methanolic extract of B. prionitis at 200 mg/kg dose. of ME was found to be more than 2000 mg/kg p.o. Hence, the resultant extracts were evaluated at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg p.o. dose against different inflammogens. Conclusion: Owing to the present findings it can be concluded that the iridoid enriched extracts might collectively be responsible for its antiinflammatory activity.