STUDY ON THE CHRONIC ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND URIC ACID-LOWERING EFFECTS OF THE 45% ETHANOL EXTRACT FROM HOMALOMENA OCCULTA RHIZOME

The rhizome of Homalomena occulta has been widely used in traditional medicine to strengthen tendons and bones, alleviating inflammation, and also relieving pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis in the aged individuals. This study aimed to investigate the xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity (in vitro) and to evaluate its anti-inflammatory effect on the Freund's Complete Adjuvant (FCA) - induced paw edema mouse model, as well as its uric acid-lowering effect in a potassium oxonate–induced chronic hyperuricemia model in male Swiss albino mice of the 45% ethanol extract from H. occulta rhizomes (HO). Although HO showed xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity (IC50 = 177.34 μg/mL), its effect was weaker than that of allopurinol. This study demonstrated that HO at doses of 0.412 g/kg and 0.824 g/kg (equivalent to 2.5 g/kg and 5 g/kg of raw material, respectively) significantly reduced paw edema in the chronic inflammation model and decreased plasma uric acid levels compared with the disease model group. The effects were comparable to those of standard therapeutic agents such as diclofenac and allopurinol, respectively. These findings support the potential development of H. occulta rhizome extract as a promising herbal preparation for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions and hyperuricemia.