European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

EFFECT OF AN ANTI-ARTHRITIC HERBAL MEDICINE ON INFLAMMATORY MARKERS IN ALBINO WISTAR RATS

Kemzi Elechi-Amadi*, E. O. Nwachuku, Davies G. Tamuno-Emine, Ojoye N. Briggs and Nsirim Nduka

ABSTRACT

The anti-arthritic activity of a herbal drug was evaluated in this study. Thirty-five (35) albino wistar rats were used in this study. They were divided into five groups, A, B, C, D, E, with seven rats each group. Group A served as negative control while Group B was the positive control. Rats in Groups B, C, D and E were induced with rheumatoid arthritis by injecting 0.1ml of Complete Freund’s Adjuvant into their right hind paw. They were treated with the standard drug and herbal drug respectively for a period of 28 days as follows: Group C was treated with a standard drug, Celebrex, Group D was treated with the herbal drug, Arthropower, and Group E was treated with a combination therapy of Arthropower and Celebrex). The negative control and positive control groups were not given any treatment. At the end of the treatment period, the rats were anaesthesized with chloroform and sacrificed through puncture of the jugular vein. Five millilitres (5ml) of blood samples were put into plain bottles for the analysis of biochemical parameters. The ELISA technique was used to analyze the inflammatory markers, TNF-α, IL-6 and C-reactive protein. The levels of TNF-α (p<0.001), IL-6 (p=0.04) and C-reactive protein (p=0.001) were significantly reduced in the treated rats compared to the positive control group. There were significant reduction in the paw diameters of the treated rats (p<0.001). The herbal formulation used in this study offered similar therapeutic activities as the orthodox drug used. The combination therapy gave results that were comparable to the monotherapies used in this study. Thus, the herbal drug can serve as a safe anti-arthritic therapy. It is recommended that herbal drug be considered for integration into our management regimen for rheumatoid arthritis.

Keywords: Anti-arthritic, herbal drug, Complete Freund’s Adjuvant, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Nigeria, Arthropower.