Pharmacological Evaluation of Skeletal Muscle Relaxant Activity from the Leaves of Folk Medicinal Plant Ichnocarpus Frutescens

In the present study the test samples of leaf extract of Ichnocarpus frutescens belonging to the family Apocyanaceae were tested for skeletal muscle relaxant activity. In the present study skeletal muscle relaxant activity was evaluated by rota-rod model and inclined screening test. The objective of this study was to investigate in-depth the skeletal muscle relaxant activity of the ethanol and aqueous extract of Ichnocarpus frutescens leaves. The present results showed that the ethanolic extract of Ichnocarpus frutescens leaves possess a significant skeletal muscle relaxant activity in experimental Swiss albino mice. At dose of 200 mg/kg and 400mg/kg it showed highly significant skeletal muscle relaxant activity at 30, 60, 90, 120 min of duration. Preliminary phytochemical screening reveals the presence of glycosides, carbohydrates, flavonoids, tannins and proteins in the plant extract.