Determination of Pharmacological Screening for Anti-arthritic Potential of Moringa oleifera in Rats Challenged with Formalin

Objective: Moringa oleifera Lam (Moringaceae), a plant native to Indian sub-continent with high nutritional and medicinal value. Since time immemorial various parts of Moringa have been utilized as food supplement. The recent available data highlights the potential use of M. oleifera leaves for various types of inflammatory diseases. The present work targeted to study arthritis along with the protective effect of Moringa oleifera (MO) leaf extracts in laboratory rats challenged with formaldehyde.

Methods: Arthritis was induced in albino Wistar rats by administration of 0.1 ml formaldehyde (2% v/v, sc) into subplantar region of the right hind paw. Diclofenac sodium (10 mg/kg, i.p.) was used as the standard drug. The ethanolic leaf extracts of MO at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg and aqueous leaf extract at 500 mg/kg body weight p.o were administered for 10 days. At the end of the study period, changes in paw edema volume, paw thickness, arthritis score, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were recorded along with histopathology of knee joints in all groups were studied.

Results: The results of the study showed a marked decrease in paw edema volume, paw thickness and arthritis score on treatment with diclofenac sodium, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of MO. There was significant reduction observed in the marker of inflammation in treated animals compared to control. The histopathological data suggested restoration of extract treated tissues to normalcy in comparison to the toxicant. Treatment with aqueous extract in the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight was found to be more potent.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated a more significant anti-arthritic activity of aqueous leaf extracts of MO at a dose of 500 mg/kg body weight compared to ethanolic.