Anti-Arthritic Activity of Leaf of Carissa carandas (L) against Adjuvant- Induced Arthritis in Rat

Background: Carissa carandas (Apocynaceae) also known as Karonda. The plant has been used in Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathic system medicine for over thousands of years. The leaves of this plant has shown astringent, antidiabetic, anti-inflammation and anti-pyretic activity and also used in the rheumatism. Objectives: The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the anti-arthritic activity of ethanolic extract of leaf of Carissa carandas against adjuvant - induced arthritis in rat. Materials and Methods: In this study both male as well as female Wister arts were used in the study. Arthritis was induced by injecting 0.1ml of freund’s complete adjuvant intra-dermally into the left hind paw of the rats. The paw volume, hematological, biochemical, radiographic and histopathological study were evaluated. Results: The extract shows significant reduction in the paw volume which was comparable with the standard and treated as well as normal group. The study reveals that extract as well as standard group shows mild reduction of paw volume where as in negative control sclerosis was seen. The changes in haematological parameters adjuvant induced arthritis shown there was significant increase of RBC count and haemoglobin, while there was significant decrease in WBC count and ESR of arthritic rats in comparison to control. The biochemical parameters such as ALT, ALP, and AST in arthritis induced by CFA group 2 it also showed that the administration of Carissa carandas at doses of 200mg and 400mg/kg in group 4, 5 and standard, in which a significant difference in the triglycerides was found. Conclusion: The effect of anti-arthritic activity of ethanolic extract of leaf of Carissa carandas was investigated in the present study may be due to synergistic effect of phytoconstituents, since the plant contains the active principle which are able to target through multiple mechanisms and which is used in pathophysiology of arthritis