Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Nociceptive Activity of Bioactive Fractions from Leaves of Citrus Sinensis

Citrus sinensis (C. sinensis) has been traditionally used for the diagnosis of many diseases which includes- asthma, hypertension, microbial infections, diabetes, tuberculosis, etc. Pain and inflammation cause unnecessary discomfort, suffering and also lower productivity of the victims. Conventional drugs for these conditions are expensive, not easily available and have adverse side effects. Therefore it need to develop alternative therapeutic agents, such as medicinal plant derivatives, that are cheaper and have lesser side effects. Citrus sinensisis used in traditional medicine to treat pain and inflammation but there is no scientific evidence to confirm these ethno-medicinal claims. The antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the extract were compared to those of Phenylbutazone. The phytochemical secondary metabolites tested for include alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, phenols, saponins, steroids and terpenoids. Citrus sinensisleavesextract demonstrated significant antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects in a dose-dependent manner. The extract at the dose level of 200mg/kg bw exhibited the highest antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities and its activities were comparable to those of the respective reference drugs. The BFLCS in doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg caused a dose-dependent inhibition of swelling caused by carrageenin equivalent to 30.2–63.2 % protection (Pless than0.05–Pless than0.001) and in cotton pellet granuloma, 47.2–45.4 % protection (Pless than0.01-Pless than0.001) was observed from inflammation. There was a significant increase in analgesio meter force induced pain in rat equivalent to 98.1–146.5 % protection (Pless than0.01-Pless than0.001) and 7.19–37.8 % (Pless than0.05–Pless than0.001) protection against Acetic acid induced writhing.