ABSTRACT
Lepidium sativum Linn. (Chandrashura) of Family Cruciferae (Brassicaceae) is being used by the people of Gujarat for treating inflammatory condition like arthritis. To evaluate its anti-inflammatory activity, Charles Foster albino rats were selected and experiments were carried out in three groups, therapeutic dose group, twice of therapeutic dose group and control group. In Carrageenan-induced paw oedema, the test drug produced moderate anti-inflammatory activity; however, the effect did not show statistically significant activity due to variation in the data of the control group. In formaldehyde-induced paw oedema in rats, the test drug produced moderate to significant suppression. This indicates that Chandrashura has a strong inhibitory effect on proliferation of fibroblasts and also probably has connective tissue modulation effect.
ABSTRACT
Pharmacognosy is the study of naturally occurring biological substances, principally those derived from plants that find use in medicine. The word "Pharmacognosy" is derived from the Greek "Pharmacon," "a drug" and "gignosco," to acquire knowledge of. It is closely related to both botany and plant chemistry and both originated from the earlier scientific studies on medicinal plant. The plant kingdom still holds many species of plants containing substances of medicinal value which have yet to be discovered large number of plants constantly being screened for their possible pharmacological value. The plant Chandrashura is being used for the treatment of Amavata, Sandhivata, and Katishula successfully. Here, an attempt is made to study the plant pharmacognostically; the part taken for study is the seed. Diagnostic features of seed and seed powder were also worked out and the details were presented.
ABSTRACT
Lepidium sativum Linn, which is known as "Aselio" locally, is frequently used by the villagers for the treatment of Sandhivata (osteoarthritis), with good therapeutic relief. Here, we have to observe the analgesic activity of the seed of Lepidium sativum Linn in albino rats and Swiss albino mice with different parameters. The analgesic study was performed with acetic acid-induced writhing response in mice, formaldehyde-induced paw licking response in rats and tail flick response in mice. Experiments were carried out in two groups - therapeutic dose group and double dose group - with comparison with the control group. In the acetic acid-induced writhing syndrome, latency of onset was highly significantly increased in the therapeutic dose group and significant increase was found in the double dose group. In the formaldehyde-induced paw licking response, the test drug produced significant inhibition of neurogenic pain in the double dose group and significant inhibition of inflammatory pain in the therapeutic dose group. In the tail flick response, the test drug produced a mild to moderate effect in the therapeutic dose group and also in the double dose group.
