ANTINOCICEPTIVE AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY STUDIES ON TRADESCANTIA ZEBRINA

Herein, we report phytochemical investigation and In vivo anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive potential of Tradescantia zebrina L. extracts. T. zebrina belongs to the family Commelinaceae and has important therapeutic uses like conjunctivitis, hemorrhoid, and superficial wound dressings in folklore medicine. In phytochemical screening, detection tests for saponins, tannins, terpenes, flavonoids, and alkaloids were performed. Folin-Ciocalteau based procedure was for total phenolic content quantification. Three fractions, including ethyl acetate, n-hexane and chloroform, fractions, were prepared from the ethanolic extract. A total of 124 Wistar rats were treated with the ethanolic extract (100 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg), fractions (100 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg), and normal saline for negative control and Diclofenac (25 mg/kg) for positive control group by oral gavage route. Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties were established using the formalin and carrageenan tests, respectively. Also, the acute toxicity of the ethanolic extraction was analyzed on ten rats. The ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions decreased the licking of the foot significantly in the formalin test (p<0.001). Treatment with the ethanolic extract decreased the paw edema caused by carrageenan at the doses of 100 and 300 mg/kg relative to control group significantly (p<0.001). Similar results were obtained at doses of 30 and 100 mg/kg. The dose of 100 mg/kg of the ethyl acetate fraction showed a major effect in the carrageenan paw edema test. There was no mortality in the acute toxicity test which indicates its non-toxic effect at this stage. The result of the total phenolic content assessment showed that 76.88% phenolic content as ?g gallic acid equivalents/mg of the extract. To conclude, antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects were revealed by different fractions T. zebrina and can be studied further for potential isolation of bioactive compounds.