Evaluation of Anti-inflammatory Activity of Zornia gibbosa Span (Samyojaki)

Abstract

93% of wild medicinal plants used for making Ayurvedic medicines in the country are endangered. Hence the usage of drugs which are common and abundantly available should be encouraged to control the extensive overuse of few classical drugs. An Ayurveda states that every drug possesses medicinal property, so it’s our prime duty to scrutinise those drugs which are abundantly available & cost-effective for their medicinal value. The herb Zornia gibbosa Span is commonly available and highly used by folklore practitioners from Udupi district of Karnataka for the treatment of fracture. Hence a pharmacological study of Zornia gibbosa span was carried out to evaluate its anti-inflammatory action using carrageenan induced paw oedema, as introduced by Winter et al. [1962]. The test drug was administered in the form of freshly prepared Phant kalpana (Hot infusion) in dose prescribed to humans which was then converted to animal dose based on body surface area ratio. An apparent and statistically significant inhibition of paw oedema was observed in test group at 60 min & 120 min which shows the Phant of Zornia gibbosa Span possess anti-inflammatory activity which may be due to its ability to inhibit the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase leading to inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and other inflammatory mediators and antagonising their interactions with their respective receptors or it may be due to general mechanism like increasing the membrane stability in cell.

 Keywords: Zornia gibbosa Span, anti-inflammatory activity, carrageenan