6 The Open Natural Products Journal, 2009, 2, 6-15 1874-8481/09 2009 Bentham Open Open Access Antiarthritis Activity of Aristolochia Bracteata Extract in Experimental Animals Havagiray R. Chitme* and Nitin P. Patel Department of Pharmacology, H.S.K. College of Pharmacy, Bagalkot-587101, Karnataka, India Abstract: The Aristolochia bracteata is well known for its antiarthritis properties in Indian system of medicine and folk medicine. The objective of the present study was to evaluate its folk claim in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and propose a probable mechanism of action. Anti arthritic activity was evaluated using Freund’s complete adjuvant in rats, the course of treatment was followed for over and 4 weeks post inoculation period using health parameters, clinical and behavioral methods of study. Estimation of blood Hb, ESR and change in body weight were considered as health parameters and clinical observations included paw edema volume, thermal hyperalgesia, radiological and histomarphological analysis and exploratory behavior was studied in behavioral observations. The results indicates that, regular treatment of adjuvant in- duced arthritic rats with A. bracteata extracts improves ESR, Hb value and also restores body weight. Significant (P<0.01) inhibitory effect was observed with A. bracteata extract on Freund’s complete adjuvant induced paw edema throughout the study (P<0.001). The latency to thermal stimuli and inhibitory effect on xylene induced ear edema was significantly (P<0.05) affected by oral treatment of A. bracteata, irrespective of solvent used for extraction. Treatment of FCA induced rats with A. bracteata extracts shown (P<0.05) increase in pain threshold, weight bearing ability, ambulation and also de- cline in scratching, defecation and urination, were observed as a sign of improvement in behavioral condition. The results obtained in this study showed promising effect on FCA modulated health status, clinical observations and behavioral changes. Keywords: Anti-arthritis, arthritis, Aristolochia bracteata, Freund’s complete adjuvant. INTRODUCTION Immune system is vital to survive, because a hyperactive immune system may cause fatal disease due to over whelm- ing allergic reaction leading to series of derangements, loss of normal capacity to distinguish self from non-self resulting in immune reactions against one’s own tissues and cells called autoimmune diseases. These autoimmune changes are receiving increased attention in drug discovery and devel- opment as the progress has been made in understanding im- mune and inflammatory processes. Several autoimmune dis- eases including myasthenia gravis, serum sickness, perni- cious anaemia, pemphigus vulgaris, SLE, reactive arthritis, etc. are the severe concern of medical and pharmaceutical community because of unknown etiology. Rheumatoid Ar- thritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune in- flammatory conditions of unknown etiology characterized by symmetric, erosive synovitis and in same cases extraarticular involvement [1]. The presently available pharmacological treatments in the market not only causing economical exploitation, but also associated with severe adverse effects [2-3]. Despite extensive use of currently available therapy, most RA pa- tients are suffering from declined functional ability because of inability in preventing cartilage breakdown and joint de- struction [4]. Recently, efforts have been focused on using the class of drugs called biologics (antibodies or soluble re- *Address correspondence to this author at the Oman Medical College, P. O. Box 620 Postal Code 130 Azaiba, Muscat-Sultanate of Oman, Oman; Tel: 968-24504608-194; Fax: 968-24504820; E-mail: hrchitme@rediffmail.com ceptors for IL-1, IL-6 and TNF- ) for the treatment of RA. Although these agents reduce the inflammation and joint destruction, their long-term risks and benefits are not yet clear. Additionally, higher costs and the findings that they are not effective universally and severe side effects such as life threatening infections, increased risk of malignancies and require continuous and careful monitoring [5-10]. However, to develop a proper medication which will be ecofriendly and having very less side effects that can be used for prophylactic and therapeutic purpose to control this dan- gerous disease is still a big challenge to a scientific commu- nity working in this area. The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies, such as acupuncture, physiotherapy, yoga and extract of medicinal herbs, and is on rise. According to reports 60-90% of dissatisfied arthritis patients are likely to seek the option of CAM therapy [11, 12]. Herbal medicine is the root of various traditional medi- cine systems around the world. Ayurvedic medicine in India has proven track record of 5000 years and forms part of the National Health Service, offered along side conventional medicine. The ayurvedic, National Formulary lists some 8000 well proven ayurvedic formulations described in Dravyaguna (Ayurvedic Pharmacology). Remedies are made from single or multiple herbs and minerals for various medi- cal conditions like asthma, flu, diabetes, arthritis, heart dis- ease, digestive problems, mental health and skin problems. Herbal medicines yielding about 25% of currently used crude drugs with another 25% derived from chemically al- tered natural products [13].