Anti-inflammatory Activity of Sclerotium stipitatum Berk. et. Curr. an Ethnomedicinal Fungus, in Chronic and Acute Animal Models of Inflammation

Sclerotium stipitatum Berk. et. Curr., locally known as ‘nilamanga’ is a rare macro fungus, traditionally used to treat numerous diseases like arthritis, earache, jaundice etc. The present study aims to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of ethanol extract of S. stipitatum and identify the bioactive compounds present in them. Phytochemical screening of extracts obtained using different solvents like petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and water were done. The best extract was chosen for the acute carrageenan-induced and chronic formalin-induced anti-inflammatory studies. Diclofenac was used as the standard drug. Ethanol extract showed significant inhibition of inflammation induced by carrageenan and formalin-induced paw edema models compared to the control. GC-MS analysis shows certain bioactive compounds. The significant inhibitory effect on paw edema proves that S. stipitatum possesses remarkable anti-inflammatory activity, and isolation and identification of bioactive compounds can be used for new drug formulations.