EVALUATION OF EFFECTS OF PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS L., LEAVES EXTRACTS AGAINST MILK-INDUCED EOSINOPHILIA IN MICE

Parthenium hysterophorus L., compositae, also known as congress weed, carrot weed, star weed, reaching a height of 2 m in weeks of germination, is believed to have entered India accidentally in the mid 1950' s and is now available abundantly all over the India. Leaves are traditionally used in the treatment of asthma and allergy, leavas of the plant were extracted successively using aqueous and ethanol solvents to obtain the respective extracts. In the present study, we have investigated the role of aqueous and ethanol extracts of Parthenium hysterophorus against milk-induced leukocytosis and eosinophilia in albino mice. The results of the study revealed that pretreatment with both the extracts caused significant reduction in the total leukocyte and eosinophil counts in animals in dose-dependent manner. From these results, it can be concluded that the plant Parthenium hysterophorus is having antieosinophilic activity.