In vitro Evaluation of Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Symplocos racemosa Using Protein Denaturation Assay

Introduction: Recently there is considerable awareness and interest in the field of herbal medicine due to its natural origin and lesser side effects compared to Allopathy. Selected herbal plants like Symplocos racemosa, commonly known as lodhra, are found mainly in plains and lower hills of Bengal. The word ‘Lodhra’ means ‘Propitious’. Symplocos racemosa is an important Indian traditional drug used in many Ayurvedic and herbal formulations for treatment of liver as well as uterine disorders and leucorrhea. Ethnobotanical Literature indicates use of Symplocos racemosa in treatment of eye disease, skin disease, ear disorders, liver and bowel complaints, tumours,uterine disorders, spongy and bleeding gums, asthma, fever, snakebite, gonorrhoea and arthritis.

Aim: To analyse the anti-inflammatory activity of Symplocos racemosa using protein denaturation assay.

Materials and Methods: 2 g of Lodhra bark powder is mixed with 100 ml distilled water & boiled for 20 min at 50°C. The extract is filtered using whatman filter paper & concentrated to 10 ml.1 ml each of Bovine serum albumin is added to various fixations of plant extract (10μL - 50 μL) and the anti - inflammatory activity was evaluated by analysing the percentage inhibition.

Results: From this study, it is evident that Lodhra has significant anti-inflammatory activity. At 50μℓ concentration, the plant extract shower higher anti- inflammatory activity of 76%.

Conclusion: Symplocos racemosa extract has proved to exhibit effective anti- inflammatory activity. Further studies have to be carried to analyse the other properties of this herb, which can be incorporated successfully in the pharmaceutical industry.