Anti-Inflammatory, Antioxidant and Anti-Diarrheal Effects of Ethanol Extract of Stephania Japonica

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-diarrheal effect of ethanol extract of Stephania japonica. This study showed that the plant extract has significant (p<0.05) anti-inflammatory effect at all phases of carrageenan induced inflammation at a dose level 2g/kg. The DPPH free radical scavenging effect of the extract was compared with standard antioxidant ascorbic acid. IC50 values were found 33.57 μg/ml for the extract and 15.57 μg/ml for ascorbic acid. S. japonica extract at dosage level 2g/kg and 1g/kg decreased the gastrointestinal motility 36.56 and 21.53 %, respectively, in rats. The ethanol extract of the plant also reduced the total number of feces as well as wet feces of rats in castor oil-induced diarrheal model. The results revealed that the extract possesses promising anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antidiarrheal activity. Keywords: Anti-inflammatory; Antioxidant; Anti-diarrheal; Stephania japonica DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjsir.v46i4.9587 BJSIR 2011; 46(4): 437-442