IN VITRO ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT AND DIFFERENT FRACTIONS OF CENTELLA ASIATICA LEAVES BY PROTEIN DENATURATION

Inflammation might be a complex organic reaction to a hazardous stimulant such as pathogens, or injured tissues and mainly causes itching, swelling, skin redness, warm and slight pain. Herbal drugs are widespread in India for their effectiveness, easy availability at low cost and provide low toxicity as compared to modern drugs. Centella asiatica is one of the oldest Ayurvedic medicinal plants, used in treatment of various skin diseases. The aim of our present research was to evaluate the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of methanolic extract and different fractions of C. asiatica leaves. In protein denaturation method, the percentage inhibition for methanolic extract was observed to be 40.22%. The petroleum ether and n-butanol fraction of methanolic extract of C. asiatica were observed to exhibits 54.12 and 44.42% inhibition, respectively. Diclofenac sodium was used as a standard drug. In comparison with other fractions petroleum ether and n-butanol fractions showed best activity. The preliminary phytochemical studies of n-butanol fractions and n-butanol fractions showed the presence of terpenoids, flavonoids etc., which are used in the treatment of inflammation. Thus, we can call the latter as intense anti-inflammatory agent.