Studies on the Anti-Inflammatory and Antipyretic Properties of Haldinia cordifolia.

Disadvantage in presently available synthetic drugs for inflammation is that they cause gastrointestinal irritation and reappearance of symptoms after discontinuation. Need for screening and development of novel, but better anti-inflammatory drugs and indigenous medicinal plants could be a logical source to find these. Herbal therapy is used to treat a large variety of ailment and symptoms, e.g., inflammation, fever and pain; however, there are no adequate experimental evidences about their effectiveness. The purpose of this investigation was study to the anti-inflammatory and anti-pyretic properties of stem bark extract of Haldinia cordifolia in rats. Haldinia cordifolia (rubiaceae) has been extensively used in folk medicine for the treatment of ulcers, burns, fevers, antiseptic, diarrhoea and dysentery. The ethanolic extract of dried stem bark of Haldinia cordifolia was investigated for anti-inflammatory (carragenan induced rat paw oedema) and anti-pyretic (brewer’s yeast induced pyrexia) activities. Pre treatment with the extract (200 - 400 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly prevented increase in volume of paw oedema in dose dependent manner. Its effects on antipyretic activity were also significant and reduce fever at higher doses. In conclusion, this study has established the anti-inflammatory activity and antipyretic activity of Haldinia cordifolia and thus justifies the ethnic uses of the plant. Key words: Inflammation, Pyretic, Haldinia cordifolia, Ethanol, Carrageenan, Paw oedema.