Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of stem bark extracts of maerua angolensis dc (capparaceae)

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JULY, 2016
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Maerua angolensis DC of the family Capparaceae is a plant used traditionally for the treatment of inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, pain, gout, boils and wounds. There is however very little scientific data on the usefulness of this plant as an anti-inflammatory agent. This study therefore aims at investigating the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of M. angolensis. The dried powdered stem bark was extracted using solvents of different polarities to obtain four extracts: 70 % v/v ethanol extract (F1), ethyl acetate extract (F2), Petroleum ether extract (F3) and petroleum ether-ethyl acetate 1:1 (F4).The carrageenan-induced paw oedema, carrageenan-induced pleurisy and acetic acid-induced vascular permeability models were used to assess the possible anti-inflammatory effects of the extracts. Histamine, serotonin, bradykinin and prostaglandin E2-induced paw oedema was also used to determine the effect of the extracts on early phase mediators in acute inflammation. F1, F2 and F3 (30-300 mg kg-1) dose dependently and significantly suppressed carrageenan induced paw oedema with the highest dose of 300 mg kg-1 giving a maximum suppression of 73.45 %, 78.4 % and 68.3 % respectively. Neutrophil infiltration and exudate volumes in carrageenan-induced pleurisy were significantly reduced by F4 (30-300 mg kg-1) with maximum inhibition of 90.9 % and 64.2 % respectively. F4 also preserved normal alveolar architecture in rat lungs in the pleurisy assay with reduced neutrophil infiltration, oedema, hyperaemia and alveolar septal thickening from histopathological assessment. Myeloperoxidase activity, an indicator of neutrophil infiltration was also significantly reduced. Vascular permeability was also attenuated by F4 with marked reduction of Evans blue dye leakage in acetic acid-induced permeability assay. F4 was able to significantly suppress inflammation induced by serotonin, bradykinin and prostaglandin E2 but not that induced by histamine. iv The in vitro antioxidant activity of F4 was evaluated with the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) scavenging test. Total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity of F4 was also determined. F4 had DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50; 0.1088 mg ml-1), total phenol content (97.24 mg g-1 tannic acid equivalent) and total antioxidant capacity (114.2 mg g-1 ascorbic acid equivalent). F4 exhibited in vivo antioxidant activity in carrageenan induced pleurisy by increasing the levels of glutathione, superoxide dismutase and catalase activity while decreasing lipid peroxidation in lung tissues. The results indicate that Maerua angolensis is effective in ameliorating inflammation induced by carrageenan and acetic acid. It also has the potential of increasing the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes and also a free radical scavenger. These findings therefore justify the wide use of Maerua angolensis in traditional medicine for inflammatory disease conditions.
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A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences by Felix Agyei Ampadu Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi July, 2016
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