Inflammation is a complex biological response of tissue cells to harmful stimuli including trauma, tissue necrosis, and infections which plays a key role in the pathophysiology of many deadly diseases. In ethnomedicine Drynaria quercifolia fronds are used to treat inflammation as poultice on swellings and as antibacterial, hepatoprotective, and antipyretic agent. Herein, we have evaluated the antioedematous, antiproliferative, and analgesic properties of the ethanolic extract of fertile fronds of D. quercifolia (FF) by standard procedures. Oral administration of FF produced significant inhibition of carrageenan and histamine induced paw oedema in Wistar rats. FF significantly reduced both wet weight and dry weight of granuloma tissue which shows the inhibitory effect on exudative and proliferative phases of inflammation. FF significantly attenuated acute and delayed phases of formalin induced pain, acetic acid-induced writhing, capsaicin-induced nociception, and hot plate test in mice. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of coumarins, flavonoids, glycosides, phenolics, saponins, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids. Total phenolic content was 186？mg/g equivalent of gallic acid. The HPLC estimation showed flavanone glycoside naringin (1.2%) and its aglycone naringenin (0.02%). The presence of potent anti-inflammatory and analgesic principles in FF and their synergistic action may be the reason for the proposed therapeutic effects. 1. Introduction Inflammation is a complex biological response of tissue cells to harmful stimuli including mechanical trauma, tissue necrosis, and infections which plays a key role in the pathophysiology of many deadly diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, liver cirrhosis, cancer, and neurological, pulmonary, and cardiovascular diseases. Although several modern drugs are used to treat these types of disorders, their prolonged use may cause severe adverse side effects [1]. Consequently there is a need to develop new anti-inflammatory agents with minimum side effects [2]. Most of the present day analgesic drugs also exert a wide range of side effects [3]; a study on plant species that are traditionally used as pain killers must be adopted as a research strategy in the development of analgesic drugs [4]. Herbal drugs play a major role in the treatment of human ailments due to their safety, efficacy, and cost effectiveness [5]. Dependence on plants as a source of medicine is prevalent in developing countries where traditional medicine plays a major role in health care [6]. Infectious
References
[1]
E. Ye？ilada, O. üstün, E. Sezik, Y. Takaishi, Y. Ono, and G. Honda, “Inhibitory effects of Turkish folk remedies on inflammatory cytokines: interleukin-1α, interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor α,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 59–73, 1997.
[2]
J. R. Vane and R. M. Botting, “A better understanding of anti-inflammatory drugs based on isoforms of cyclooxygenase,” Advances in Prostaglandin, Thromboxane, and Leukotriene Research, vol. 23, pp. 41–48, 1995.
[3]
R. L. Miller, P. A. Insel, and L. K. Melnon, “Inflammatory disorders,” in Clinical Pharmacology, L. K. Melnon and H. E. Merelli, Eds., pp. 657–708, Macmillan, New York, NY, USA, 2nd edition, 2001.
[4]
E. Elisabetsky, T. A. Arnador, R. R. Albuquerque, D. S. Nunes, and A. Do CT Carvalho, “Analgesic activity of Psychotria colorata (Willd. ex R. and S.) Muell. Arg. alkaloids,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 77–83, 1995.
[5]
N. R. Farnsworth, “The role of medicinal plants in drug development,” S. Krogsgaard-Larsen, S. Brogger-Christensen, and H. Kofod, Eds., pp. 313–329, Natural Products and Drug Development, Munsksgaard, Denmark, 1994.
[6]
J. Srivastava, Medicinal Plants: An Expanding Role in Development, The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA, 1996.
[7]
T. L. Shale, W. A. Stirk, and J. Van Staden, “Screening of medicinal plants used in Lesotho for anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory activity,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 67, no. 3, pp. 347–354, 1999.
[8]
J. C. Dagar and H. S. Dagar, “Some useful pteridophytes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany, vol. 9, pp. 317–323, 1987.
[9]
R. D. Dixit and J. N. Vohra, A Dictionary of Pteridophytes of India, Botanical Survey of India, Howrah, India, 1984.
[10]
P. Kaushik and A. K. Dhiman, “Common medicinal pteridophytes,” Indian Fern Journal, vol. 12, pp. 139–145, 1995.
[11]
A. Rajendran and S. Rajan, “Drynaria quercifolia- an antifertility agent,” Ancient Science of Life, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 286–187, 1996.
[12]
K. K. Sajeev and N. Sasidharan, “Ethnobotanical observations on the tribals of Chinnar wild life sanctuary,” Ancient Science of Life, vol. 14, pp. 284–292, 1997.
[13]
A. Khan, E. Haque, M. M. Rahman, A. Mosaddik, M. A. A. Al-Bari, and M. Rahman, “Antipyretic activity of rhizome of Drynaria quercifolia in rabbit,” Pharmaceutical Biology, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 312–315, 2007.
[14]
C. A. Winter, E. A. Risley, and G. W. Nuss, “Carrageenin-induced edema in hind paw of the rat as an assay for antiiflammatory drugs,” Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, vol. 111, pp. 544–547, 1962.
[15]
G. N. Aditya, R. N. Chattopadhyay, S. Mandal, R. K. Roy, H. L. Lahiri, and S. K. Maitra, “Possible mechanism of anti-inflammatory activity of calcium channel blockers,” Indian Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 325–326, 1997.
[16]
P. Schiatti, D. Selva, and G. Galliani, “Highly selective antiinflammatory and analgesic activity of 3-(1-methylethyl)-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3H-naphth[1,2-d]imidazole, a new non-acidic molecule,” Arzneimittel-Forschung, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 102–109, 1986.
[17]
R. Koster, M. Anderson, and E. J. De Beer, “Acetic acid for analgesic screening,” Federation Proceedings, vol. 18, p. 412, 1959.
[18]
S. Hunskaar and K. Hole, “The formalin test in mice: dissociation between inflammatory and non-inflammatory pain,” Pain, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 103–114, 1987.
[19]
A. P. Luiz, J. D. Moura, F. C. Meotti et al., “Antinociceptive action of ethanolic extract obtained from roots of Humirianthera ampla Miers,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 114, no. 3, pp. 355–363, 2007.
[20]
R. A. Turner, Analgesics: Screening Methods in Pharmacology, Edited by R. Turner, P. Ebborn, Academic Press, New York, NY, USA, 1965.
[21]
V. J. Shine, S. Shyamal, P. G. Latha, and S. Rajasekharan, “Gastric antisecretory and antiulcer activities of Decalepis arayalpathra,” Pharmaceutical Biology, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 210–216, 2007.
[22]
J. B. Harborne, Phytochemical Methods, Chapman and Hall, London, UK, 2nd edition, 1984.
[23]
V. J. Shine, P. G. Latha, S. Shyamal et al., “Gastric antisecretory and antiulcer activities of Cyclea peltata (Lam.) Hook. f. & Thoms. in rats,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 125, no. 2, pp. 350–355, 2009.
[24]
J. Okpuzor, H. Ogbunugafor, and G. K. Karecm, “Antioxidative properties of ethyl acetate fraction of Globimetula braunii in normal albino rats,” Journal of Biological Sciences, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 470–475, 2009.
[25]
R. D. Raghava, Statistical Techniques in Agricultural and Biological Research, Oxford & IBH Publishing, New Delhi, India, 1987.
[26]
R. Vinegar, W. Schreiber, and R. Hugo, “Biphasic development of carrageenin edema in rats,” Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, vol. 166, no. 1, pp. 96–103, 1969.
[27]
P. Crunkhorn and S. C. Meacock, “Mediators of the inflammation induced in the rat paw by carrageenin,” British Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 392–402, 1971.
[28]
K. Phadke, “In vivo and in vitro models for arthritis,” Indian Drugs, vol. 25, no. 9, pp. 354–365, 1988.
[29]
C. O. Okoli, P. A. Akah, S. V. Nwafor, A. I. Anisiobi, I. N. Ibegbunam, and O. Erojikwe, “Anti-inflammatory activity of hexane leaf extract of Aspilia africana C.D. Adams,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 109, no. 2, pp. 219–225, 2007.
[30]
S. Kavimani, T. Vetrichelvan, R. Ilango, and B. Jaykar, “Antiinflammatory activity of the volatile oil of Toddalia asiatica,” Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 67–70, 1996.
[31]
M. E. Arrigoni, “Prostaglandins: possible mechanism of anti-inflammatory drugs,” in Inflammation and Anti-Inflammatories, pp. 119–120, Spectrum Publication, New York, NY, USA, 1977.
[32]
M. Gupta, U. K. Mazumder, P. Gomathi, and V. T. Selvan, “Antiinflammatory evaluation of leaves of Plumeria acuminata,” BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 6, article 36, 2006.
[33]
U. A. Shinde, A. S. Phadke, A. M. Nair, A. A. Mungantiwar, V. J. Dikshit, and M. N. Saraf, “Studies on the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity of Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud. wood oil,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 21–27, 1999.
[34]
G. Jancso, “Pathobiological reactions of C-fibre primary sensory neurones to peripheral nerve injury,” Experimental Physiology, vol. 77, no. 3, pp. 405–431, 1992.
[35]
M. J. Caterina, M. A. Schumacher, M. Tominaga, T. A. Rosen, J. D. Levine, and D. Julius, “The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway,” Nature, vol. 389, no. 6653, pp. 816–824, 1997.
[36]
A. Szallasi and P. M. Blumberg, “Vanilloid (Capsaicin) receptors and mechanisms,” Pharmacological Reviews, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 159–211, 1999.
[37]
G. I. Anuja, P. G. Latha, S. R. Suja et al., “Anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of Drynaria quercifolia (L.) J. Smith,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 132, no. 2, pp. 456–460, 2010.
[38]
M. D. Dos Santos, M. C. Almeida, N. P. Lopes, and G. E. P. De Souza, “Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities of the natural polyphenol chlorogenic acid,” Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, vol. 29, no. 11, pp. 2236–2240, 2006.
[39]
D. Pathak, K. Pathak, and A. K. Singla, “Flavonoids as medicinal agents. Recent advances,” Fitoterapia, vol. 62, no. 5, pp. 371–389, 1991.
[40]
B. K. Datta, S. K. Datta, M. M. Chowdhury et al., “Analgesic, antiinflammatory and CNS depressant activities of sesquiterpenes and a flavonoid glycoside from Polygonum viscosum,” Pharmazie, vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 222–225, 2004.
[41]
M. M. Ahmed, S. Qureshi, A. M. Al-Bekairi, A. H. Shah, R. M. Rao, and N. S. Qazi, “Anti-inflammatory activity of Caralluma tuberculata alcoholic extract,” Fitoterapia, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 357–360, 1993.
[42]
V. J. Galani and B. G. Patel, “Analgesic and ani-inflammatory activity of Argyreia speciosa and Sphaeranthus indicus in the experimental animals,” Global Journal of Pharmacology, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 54–59, 2011.
[43]
R. M. Perez, S. Perez, M. A. Zavala, and M. Salazar, “Anti-inflammatory activity of the bark of Hippocratea excelsa,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 85–90, 1995.
[44]
C. F. Liu and N. Lin, “Progress in research mechanisms of anti-rheumatoid arthritis of triptolide,” Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi, vol. 31, pp. 1575–1579, 2006.
[45]
M. A. Fernández, B. De Las Heras, M. D. García, M. T. Sáenz, and A. Villar, “New insights into the mechanism of action of the anti-inflammatory triterpene lupeol,” Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 1533–1539, 2001.
[46]
K. Yamashita, H. Lu, J. Lu et al., “Effect of three triterpenoids, lupeol, betulin, and betulinic acid on the stimulus-induced superoxide generation and tyrosyl phosphorylation of proteins in human neutrophils,” Clinica Chimica Acta, vol. 325, no. 1-2, pp. 91–96, 2002.
[47]
M. A. Spessoto, D. S. Ferriera, A. E. Crotti, M. L. Silva, and W. R. Cunha, “Evaluation of the analgesic activity of extracts of Miconia rubiginosa (Melastomaceae),” Phytomedicine, vol. 10, pp. 606–609, 2003.
[48]
A. P. Luiz, J. D. AvilaMoura, F. C. Meotti, et al., “Antinociceptive action of ethanolic extract obtained from roots of Humirianthera ampla Miers,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 114, pp. 355–363, 2007.
[49]
P. Kamboj, V. Gauttam, and A. N. Kalia, “Development and validation of a HPTLC/densiometry method for the quantitative determination of flavonone glycoside naringin in Drynaria quercifolia fronds,” in International Symposium for HPTLC, Basel, Switzerland, 2011.
