PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDY AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITIES OF CITRUSAURANTIFOLIA (RUTACEAE) LEAVES COLLECTED IN THE REGION OF YAMOUSSOUKRO, IVORY COAST

The aim of this work is to characterize the aqueous extract of Citrus aurantifolia leaves in order to identify the bioactive molecules present in the leaves and to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of the leaves of this plant. The phytochemical study was carried out using the tube staining test. The anti-arthritic activity of the plant has been studied on a model of chronic inflammation in vivo of inducing arthritis in the leg left rats by a full solution of Freunds adjuvant compared diclofenac used as a reference according to an oral treatment. The treatment of the arthritic rats with the extract at the doses of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg/bw and the diclofenac sodium (5 mg/kg/bw) started the day after the second injection and continued without interruption until the end of the experiment (28 days). Parameters such as edema and weight of the rats were evaluated during this experiment. The characterization of the aqueous extract of Citrus aurantifolia indicates that the leaves of this plant is rich in polyphenols, flavonoid, tannin, terpenoids, saponins, tannins and alkaloids. The extract inhibited CFA-induced paw edema. Furthermore, the comparative study performed on this animal model of chronic inflammation revealed that the activities of the extract were comparable to those of the reference molecule. As regards the weights, the rats treated with both the extract and the reference molecule showed a rapid recovery compared to untreated arthritic rats. These results show that the aqueous extract of C. aurantifolia prevented the pathological development of experimentally induced arthritis in rats. The active molecules present in the leaves of C. aurantifolia would be potential anti-inflammatory agents in the treatment of this pathology.