62 Anti-inflammatory effect of Leucas cephalotes Spreng in 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced inflammation in mice Kuldeep Singh Yadav*, Narayan P. Yadav*, Naveen Kumar* and Suaib Luqman** *Herbal Medicinal Product Department, CSIR- Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow-226015, U.P., India **Molecular Bioprospection Department, CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow-226015, U.P., India Received for publication November 2, 2012; accepted December 2, 2012 Abstract Leucas cephalotes Spreng (Family: Lamiaceae) known as ‘Dronapushpi’ in Sanskrit and ‘Guma’ in Hindi, is being extensively used by rural people of North India to treat various ailments including inflammation. Therefore, present study was undertaken to validate the effect of L. cephalotes extracts in topical inflammation, using mouse ear edema model, induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). The anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated by measuring ear weight, level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, interleukin (IL)-6, activity of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and the production of nitric oxide (NO). The results showed that non-polar fraction of methanolic extract (MNF) of L. cephalotes significantly decreased the ear weight, LPO activity and NO level. Additionally, MNF remarkably inhibited the expression of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 while polar fraction of methanolic extract (MPF) considerably reduced LPO activity and IL-6 level only. The results indicate that non-polar fraction of methanolic extract (MNF) of L. cephalotes has potential anti-inflammatory effect on TPA-induced inflammation in mice ear. Key words: Leucas cephalotes Spreng, TPA, Anti-inflammatory activity, Proinflammatory mediators, Lipid peroxidation, Nitric oxide Author for correspondence: Dr. Narayan Prasad Yadav Herbal Medicinal Product Department, CSIR- Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow-226015, U.P., India E-mail: npyadav@gmail.com Tel.: +91-522-2718657, Fax.: +91-522-2342666 +91-09451244418, +91-09450904995 ANNALS OF PHYTOMEDICINE An International Journal Annals of Phytomedicine 1(2): 62-66, 2012 Introduction Inflammation is a part of complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli like pathogens, damaged cells, traumas, bone fracture, hypersensitivity reactions or irritants. Aberrant activation of the acute inflammatory response can damage various tissues and organs which lead to chronic inflammation. Persistent chronic inflammation may cause life threatening diseases such as bacterial sepsis, rheumatoid arthritis, skin inflammation and cancer (Palladino et al., 2003 and Paul et al., 2012). During recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the study of mechanisms of inflammation related to cancer and in the use of such mechanisms as the basis for development of new chemopreventive agents. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process. Now-a-days, toxicity and revival of symptoms are common problems for anti-inflammatory drugs which are primarily of synthetic origin. These untoward effects restrict their long-term use. Hence, there is a constant demand for better therapeutic alternatives. Some of the plants with anti-inflammatory activity have been scientiûcally analyzed (Delporte et al., 2005) because the medicines based on plant origin are promising choice over modern synthetic drugs. They show minimum/no side effects and are considered to be safe (Miyaichi et al., 2006). In search of new anti-inflammatory lead molecule, it is better to screen plants traditionally used for inflammatory conditions. Leucas cephalotes Spreng. is an annual herb found on waste lands throughout India (Dua et al., 2011). Phytochemical investigations show the presence of flavonoids, phenol, phytosterol and tannins (Baburao et al., 2010). The decoction of dried aerial parts of plant is used orally for diarrhoea (Pushpangadan and Atal, 1984), to reduce fever (Johns et al.,