Ishwar Bhat K

Bauhinia variegata (Mountain ebony) is a well known plant in traditional medicine which belongs to the family Cesalpiniaceae. It is widely used for various ailments like skin diseases, tumour, ulcers and various infections. Against this backdrop the present study attempts to scientifically evaluate the analgesic, antifungal, anti-tumour potential of this plant. The ethanolic extract of the plant was prepared by soxhlation. Acute toxicity studies carried out on the extract revealed that it was safe at the dose of 2000 mg/kg body weight. The extract was then evaluated for its analgesic activity by eddy’s hot plate method. The antifungal evaluation was carried against Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus by disc diffusion method in Sabouraud agar medium. The extract was studied for short term in-vitro cytotoxicity against DLA cell lines by Trypan blue assay method. The ethanolic extract of Bauhinia variegata bark exhibited significant analgesic activity at both the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight (p

  The study was aimed to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of ethanolic extract of Desmodium oojeinense(Roxb.) in experimental rats. Analgesic activity was evaluated using acetic acid induced writhing method, while anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using carrageenan induced rat paw oedema model. Various doses of ethanolic extract of the plant (100, 200, 400 mg/kg body weight) were tested for its analgesic activity and anti-inflammatory activity and the results were compared with the standard drug aspirin and diclofenac sodium respectively. Results indicate that the ethanolic extract of the plant significantly inhibited writhing movements in analgesic activity and carrageenan induced hind paw oedema in anti-inflammatory activity in a dose dependent manner. The results suggest that there exists a potential benefit in utilizing Desmodium oojeinense(Roxb.) in treating conditions associated with pain and inflammation. Key Words: Desmodium oojeinense (Roxb.), analgesic, anti-inflammatory, carrageenan.