COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF ANALGESIC AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITIES OF PHYLLANTHUS FRATERNUS AND IMPATIENS BALSAMINA ETHANOLIC EXTRACTS

The current research was conducted to compare the acute oral toxicity, analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of ethanolic extracts of Phytanthus fraternus and Impatiens balsamina, two medicinal plants that have been used traditionally in treating pain and inflammation. The acute toxicity was evaluated in Swiss albino mouse based on the OECD guideline 423 at a dose of 300 mg and 2000 mg/kg. There were no mortalities, abnormal behaviour or adverse clinical effects, which categorised the two extracts as the Globally Harmonised System (GHS) Category 5. To assess analgesic activity, the acetic acid-induced writhing test was used on mice, whereas anti-inflammatory potential has been assessed using both in-vitro and in-vivo models: the human red blood cell (HRBC) membrane stabilisation assay and carrageenan-induced paw oedema in rats, respectively. Findings revealed that both extracts had marked, dose-dependent analgesic and inflammatory effects, with the extract of P. fraternus having a uniformly higher potency than I. balsamina. Their stabilising behaviour against hypotonicity-induced haemolysis, an indicator of membrane-stabilising and anti-inflammatory activities, was confirmed with the HRBC membrane stabilisation test. In a similar manner, oedema was severely suppressed in the carrageenan-induced paw oedema model, which was another indication of their in-vivo anti-inflammatory effect. Comprehensively, these results offer pharmacological support to the ethnomedicinal claims of both plants and indicates that, in particular, the plant of interest, P. fraternus, is even better positioned to be developed into a new series of plant-based analgesic and anti-inflammatory compounds.