Anti-inflammatory activity of Nelsonia canescens (Lam)Spreng. root in albino rats.

Nelsonia canescens (Lam).Spreng. from Acanthaceae family is traditionally known as Bada-rasna in the western part of Odisha, India. Ethnic people use root of this plant for its anti-inflammatory properties in the name of Rasna, a well known Ayurvedic analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug. Hence, present study was undertaken to evaluate anti-inflammatory activity of the root powder of Nelsonia canescens (Lam).Spreng. In this study two dose levels selected (270 mg/kg and 540 mg/kg) from root powder of Nelsonia canescens for evaluating the Acute and chronic anti-inflammatory activity in Wistar albino rats, using animal models of carrageenan-induced paw oedema, formaldehyde-induced hind paw oedema and cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation respectively. Both dose levels Therapeutic Equivalent Dose (TED) and TED×2 showed significant anti-inflammatory against chronic inflammation. In Carrageenan-induced paw oedema, treatment with Nelsonia canescens root at the TED dose level inhibited inflammation at marginal level, while at TED×2 did not show any impact. Furthermore, test drug at TED dose level significantly inhibited formalin induced paw oedema inflammation and interestingly, the effect was even better than result of standard drug. The study indicate that drug is having anti-inflammatory effect on animal models and According to results we can conclude that the root of Nelsonia canescens has an effect on sub-acute inflammation and mild to moderate effect against acute inflammation.