Acute and Chronic Anti-inflammatory effect of Bryophyllum pinnatum Leaf Extract on Wistar Rats

Abstract

Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken (Crassulaceae) is used traditionally to treat many ailments. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of hydro-ethanol leaf extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum on Wistar rats using acute and chronic models and also evaluates the bioactive compounds of the leaf extract. The phytochemical constituents of the plant extract were quantitatively determined by Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and acute anti-inflammatory activity was carried out with the aid of plethysmometer while chronic anti-inflammatory activity was investigated using cotton pellet. Results showed that the leaf extract of B. pinnatum was rich in kaempferol (7.006 ±0.02 μg/g), sapogenin (3.372 ±0.02 μg/g), rutin (1.837 ±0.01 μg/g) and lunamarine (1.359 ±0.01 μg/g). The findings showed that the plant had considerable anti-inflammatory effects in a dose dependent manner, returning edema in carragenean-induced and cotton pellet induced granuloma in Wistar rats to normal within 120 minutes and 7 days respectively. The findings of this work have shown that the leaf of B. pinnatum was rich in bioactive compounds which could be synthesized to produce new plant based product to fight inflammatory disorders with fewer side effects.