~ 396 ~ The Pharma Innovation Journal 2019; 8(8): 396-400 ISSN (E): 2277- 7695 ISSN (P): 2349-8242 NAAS Rating: 5.03 TPI 2019; 8(8): 396-400 © 2019 TPI www.thepharmajournal.com Received: 01-06-2019 Accepted: 05-07-2019 Ranajit Kumar Khalua Department of Zoology, Narajole Raj College, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India Rita Mondal Department of Physiology, Narajole Raj College, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India Souvik Tewari Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Food Science and Technology, Department of Warner College of Dairy Technology, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences SHUATS, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Correspondence Ranajit Kumar Khalua Department of Zoology, Narajole Raj College, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India Comparative evaluation of anti-inflammatory activities of three Indian medicinal plants (Alstonia scholaris Linn, Swertia chirata, Swietenia macrophylla Linn.) Ranajit Kumar Khalua, Rita Mondal and Souvik Tewari Abstract Inflammation is a defensive reaction of the body against infections and injuries. Acute inflammation can be conventionally described as a vascular and cellular event. Chronic inflammation causes tissue destruction brought by activated macrophages by release of variety of biological active substances. Inflammation plays a major role in most chronic illnesses, including neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, autoimmune and neoplastic diseases. Herbal medicines derived from plant extracts are being increasingly utilized to treat a wide variety of clinical disease, though relatively little knowledge about their mode of action is available. There is a growing interest in pharmacological evaluation of various plants used in Indian traditional system of medicine. Carrageenan, from the Irish word “carraigin” meaning Irish moss, refers not only to a species of red alga chondrus crisous found along rocky areas of the Atlantic coast of the British Isles, Europe, and North America, but also refers to its mucopolysaccharides extracts, discovered by the British pharmacist Stanford in 1862. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory activities of three Indian medicinal plants were investigated with reference to standard drugs indomethacin. Both the aqueous and ethanolic extract significantly reduced carrageenan induced acute inflammation in animal models. The ethanolic extracts were more potent than the aqueous extracts. Of the three plants Swietenia macrophylla (both aqueous and ethanolic extracts) showed maximum protection followed by Swertia chirata. Although active inflammatory compound have already been reported from these plants, the study emphasizes on the comparative assessment of anti- inflammatory activities of these three plants with reference to standard drug indomethacin. Keywords: Inflammation, three plants (Alstonia scholaris, Swietenia macrophylla and Swertia chirata.), aqueous and ethanolic extracts Introduction Inflammation is a defensive reaction of the body against infections and injuries. Edema formation, leukocyte infiltration and granuloma formation represent typical features of inflammation. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroidal drugs, and immune- suppressant drugs, which have been usually used in the relief of inflammatory diseases worldwide for a long time, are often associated with severe adverse side effect, such as gastrointestinal bleeding and peptic ulcer. Inflammation is defined as the local response of living mammalian tissues to injury due to any agent. It is a body defense reaction to eliminate or limit the spread of injurious agent as well as necrosed cells. Acute inflammation can be conventionally described as a vascular and cellular event. In vascular events, alterations include hemodynamic changes such as transient vasoconstriction, persistent progressive vasodilatation, followed by local hydrostatic pressure, stasis, lucocytes migration and vascular changes in which accumulation of edema fluid. In cellular events, phagocytosis, that is engulfment of solid particulate material by cells, causes the inflammation. Chronic inflammation causes tissue destruction brought by activated macrophages by release of variety of biological active substances. It would appear that the extracts had a suppressive effect on these events. Inflammation plays a major role in most chronic illnesses, including neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, autoimmune and neoplastic diseases. Herbal medicines derived from plant extracts are being increasingly utilized to treat a wide variety of clinical disease, though relatively little knowledge about their mode of action is available. There is a growing interest in pharmacological evaluation of various plants used in Indian traditional system of medicine. Carrageenan, from the Irish word “carraigin” meaning Irish moss, refers not only to a species of red alga chondrus crisous found along rocky areas of the Atlantic coast of the British Isles, Europe, and North America, but also