ABSTRACT
Plants have played prominent roles not only as sources of medicaments used in the treatment of diverse diseases but have also contributed immensely to the wealth of individuals and economy of many nations. Medicinal plants offer great prospects for development of novel chemotherapeutic agents and antimcrobials which are essential for proper management of various ailments in man and animals. Most plant products are cheaper because of their abundance. They are natural and generally devoid of marked adverse effects commonly experienced with xenobiotics. There have been calls in different international fora on heads of governments to support research into herbal medicines and to incorporate traditional medicine practice into modern health care delivery systems in order to combat recurrent health challenges. Documented plants have demonstrated significant potential in the handling or treatment of some notable diseases such as malaria, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDs), sickle cell anaemia, diabetes mellitus, trypanosomosis, peptic ulcer, hepatitis, envenomation, bacterial infections, helminthoses, cancer to mention but a few.
ABSTRACT
Boerhavia diffusa is a widely used plant in traditional medicine for various disease problems. In this study, the anti-inflammatory and membrane stabilizing effects of the aqueous extract of its roots was evaluated in rats. Carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema model was used for antiinflammatory effect while rat red blood cells were used for membrane stabilizing property. The extract in doses of 100-400 mg/kg significantly (p<0.05) inhibit carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema in a dose dependent manner. The concentration of 20-80 mg/ml of the extract also showed a dose dependent inhibition of the rat red blood cells haemolysis induced by hypotonic solution. It was concluded that the extract possesses anti-inflammatory as well as membrane stabilizing properties.