ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF CROCUS SATIVUS EXTRACT IN EXPERIMENTAL ARTHRITIS

Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most serious medical problems leading to bone and cartilage destruction. The disease affects approximately 1% of the total world population. Mostly the women are affected. The pathogenesis of the disease is still not clearly understood. Free radicals and inflammatory molecules such as TNF-α, IL-1β etc have been recognized as major players in the progression of disease. Several herbal preparations have been reported to combat free radicals and relieve the sufferers of diseases such diabetes, atherosclerosis, asthma etc. Crocus sativus is considered as an anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antispasmodic and diaphoretic agent. Therefore, we planned this study to evaluate anti-inflammatory and antioxidant property of Crocus sativus extract (CSE) towards adjuvant induced arthritis. Arthritis was induced in mice by injecting Freund’s complete adjuvant. Three different doses of Crocus sativus extract (25, 50, 100mg/kg b.w.) were orally administered to the adjuvant induced arthritic mice for 47 days. We observed significant (p<0.05) reduction in TNF-α and IL-1β levels in the mice of CSE-2 and 3 group as compared to arthritic mice, while non-significant change was observed in the CSE-1 group mice. We also recorded a significant (p<0.05) increase in SOD and GR activity in the mice of CSE-2 and 3 group as compared to arthritic mice, while non-significant change was observed in the CSE-1 group mice. We can conclude that CSE is effective in modulating the pro-inflammatory molecules and a good scavenger of free radicals, and hence was capable to reduce the inflammation and oxidative stress during disease.