Evaluation of Acute and Chronic Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Whole Plant of Calotropis gigantea in Various Experimental Animal Models

Calotropis gigantea a wild growing plant of family Asclepiadaceae, well known as Sweat akand, is used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation and pain. The present study enumerates investigation of acute as well as chronic antiinflammatory activity of ethanolic extract of whole plant of Calotropis gigantea (CGEE, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, p. o.) in carrageenan-and formalin -induced paw edema and turpentine oil-induced granuloma pouch in rats. Oral administration of CGEE (200 and 400 mg/kg) significantly reduced the paw volume (P <0.001) at 3h in carrageenan model. The treatment of CGEE (200 and 400 mg/kg) significantly reduced the volume of exudates (P <0.001) in turpentine oil-induced granuloma pouch dose dependently. Chronic inflammation induced by formalin injection was significantly (P <0.001) inhibited by CGEE (400 mg/kg) as compared to the control rats. Diclofenac (10 mg/kg) was used as reference drug. Thus, the present study reveals that whole plant of Calotropis gigantea possess significant antiinflammatory activity and supports the claim in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammatory conditions. This may be due to the potentiation of its inhibitory effect on synthesis and release of different inflammatory mediators.