Evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity of methanol extract of Rhus Coriaria L. In diabetic rats

Abstract

Inflammation is an immune system response, which prevents the individual from infection. Thee use of current anti-inflammatory drugs is often associated with side effects. Therefore, an alternative therapeutic module is necessitated. Herbal medicines are being used against many diseases due to their high efficacy with little or no harmful effects. Rhus coriaria has been widely used to treat different diseases including inflammation. The current study evaluated the anti-inflammatory activity of R. coriaria against carrageenan-induced paw oedema in diabetic rats Male Wistar rats were divided into two parts: Healthy and diabetic rats. Each part consisted of five groups. Group 1 received normal saline (negative control) for healthy and diabetic rats. Group 2 received 150 mg/kg acetylsalicylic acid (positive control) for healthy and diabetic rats. Groups 3 4 and 5 were given orally 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of R. coriaria extract for healthy and diabetic rats. Cytotoxicity of R. coriaria methanol extract was evaluated against fibroblast cell lines. The results showed that methanol extract of R. coriaria at 200 mg/kg significantly decreases paw oedema in diabetic rats (P< 0.01) compared to the non-diabetic rats (P< 0.001). This finding may indicate that R. coriaria has a strong anti-inflammatory activity against carrageenan-induced paw oedema in rats. It was found that 100 µg/mL of R. coriaria extract resulted in very low cytotoxicity against fibroblasts with 40.12% inhibition of fibroblast proliferation and IC50 of 108.4 µg/mL. In conclusion, the extract of R. coriaria has a considerable anti-inflammatory activity against carrageenan-induced paw oedema in diabetic rats.