EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT, WOUND HEALING AND ANTI- INFLMMATORY ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF LEAVES OF FICUS RELIGIOSA

The present study deals with evaluation of antioxidant, wound healing and anti-inflammatory activity of ethanolic extract of leaves of Ficus religiosa. The ethanolic extract prepared by maceration technique was subjected to screen for antioxidant activity using DPPH radical scavenging method and wound healing activity using incision, excision, histopathological and dead space wound model and the study was supported with evaluation of granuloma tissue to estimate hydroxyproline content and histopathological evaluation. The anti-inflammatory study was carried out by using carageenan induced rat paw odema method. The tested extract of different dilutions in range 200µg/ml to 1000 µg/ml shows activity in range of 6.34% to 13.35%. Significant increase in wound closure rate, skin breaking strength, granuloma breaking strength was observed. The hydroxyproline content was also increased with decrease in scar area. The initial healing action might be due to increased collagen deposition and better alignment, with the obtained results it can be concluded that Ficus religiosa extract has significant wound healing activity and initial healing may be due to presence of glycosides and tannins. The extract shows prominent anti-inflammatory activity as compared to that of standard (Ibuprofen gel). The extract shows good anti-inflammatory activity on carageenan induced rat paw odema method.