Musanga cecropioides leaf extract exhibits anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities in animal models

Extract obtained from the leaves of Musanga cecropioides R. Br. ex Tedlie, Urticaceae, a tree growing in Africa, is used traditionally in the treatment of edema and rheumatism. The anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive properties of ethanol extract were studied using the carrageenan, histamine, serotonin and xylene-induced edema tests as well as the formalin, mouse writhing and tail clip tests. Significant dose dependent inhibition was observed in the carrageenan model with peak inhibition at 150 mg/kg (71.43%, 90 min, p < 0.001). In the histamine and serotonin models, the extract caused significant inhibition of 83.33% (p < 0.05) and 45% (p < 0.01) at 120 min respectively. For the xylene model, the extract showed maximum inhibition (59.25%) at 200 mg/kg. Also, M. cecropioides produced significant anti-nociceptive activity in the mouse writhing(55.12%, p < 0.01 ), formalin (81.88%, p < 0.01 ) and tail clip (11.78%, p < 0.001 ) tests at 200 mg/kg respectively. The results obtained in this study demonstrated that the ethanolic leaf extract of M. cecropioides possesses anti-inflammatory effect possibly mediated via histaminergic and serotonergic inhibition and anti-nociceptive effect mediated via peripheral mechanism with mild central involvement.