Ph ton 258 The Journal of Ethnobiology and Traditional Medicine .Photon 118 (2013) 258-263 https://sites.google.com/site/photonfoundationorganization/home/the-journal-of-ethnobiology-and-traditional-medicine Original Research Article. ISJN: 6642-3194 The Journal of Ethnobiology and Traditional Medicine Ph ton Antiemetic and Anti-inflammatory activity of leaves and flower extracts of Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roem Kanwal Waseem Khan, Syed Waseemuddin Ahmed, Salman Ahmed, Mohammad Mohtasheemul Hasan* Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Sindh, Pakistan Article history: Received: 24 July 2012 Accepted: 16 August 2012 Available online: 28 January 2013 Keywords: Luffa cylindrica, Antiemetic activity, Anti-inflammatory activity. Corresponding Author: Mohammad Mohtasheemul Hasan* Assistant Professor Email: phm.hasan@gmail.com Phone: (+9221)99261300-7.Ext.2400 Kanwal Waseem Khan M.Phil Email: kwasim202@gmail.com Syed Waseemuddin Ahmed Professor Email: dr.syed_waseemuddin@yahoo.com Salman Ahmed Ph.D Fellow Email: salmancr2004@gmail.com Abstract Ethanol and hexane extracts of the leaves and male flowers of Luffa cylindrica were evaluated for antiemetic and anti-inflammatory effect using chick emesis model and carrageenan induced rat paw oedema. The antiemetic effect was observed at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight whereas anti- inflammatory effect was observed at doses of 500, 750 and 1000 mg/kg body weight orally. Chlorpromazine 150 mg/kg and indomethacin 10 mg/kg orally were used as standard antiemetic and anti-inflammatory drugs . The antiemetic effect was determined by calculating the mean decrease in number of retching in contrast with those of control after 10 minutes of copper sulfate (50 mg/kg orally) administration. The degree of paw oedema of all the groups was measured using a plethysmometer at 5 th hour of carrageenan (1% w/v) administration. All extracts except hexane extract of leaves exhibited statistically significant (P<0.001) antiemetic and except hexane extract of flower, all extracts exhibited statistically significant (P<0.05) antiinflammatory effects. Citation: Khan K.W., Ahmed S.W., Ahmed S., Hasan M.M., 2013. Antiemetic and Anti-inflammatory activity of leaves and flower extracts of Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roem. The Journal of Ethnobiology and Traditional Medicine. Photon 118, 258-263. 1. Introduction Luffa cylindrica (family Cucurbitaceae) is an annual climbing or trailing herb which is cultivated in Pakistan at Jehlum, Jammu and Kashmir, Loralai and Karachi (Nazimuddin, 1984). The plant is reported as laxative and useful in asthma, intestinal worms, sinusitis (Chakravarty, 1990; Schultes, 1990), oedema, mastitis, pharyngitis and rhinitis (Khare, 2007). Leaves are used in decayed teeth, parasitic affections, skin diseases (Porterfield, 1955), chronic bronchitis (Khare, 2007) and reported as an emmenagogue and diuretic (Perry, 1980). Seeds of L. cylindrica are carthartic (Prajapati et al., 2003). The stem is used in respiratory complaints. Riped fruits are reported as antiseptic, anthelmintic, carminative, emmenagogue, galactagogue, tonic to the genital organs, used in the treatment of hernia, hemorrhoids, jaundice, menorrhagia, scarlet fever (Porterfield, 1955), bronchitis, haematuria, leprosy, spleenopathy, syphilis (Prajapati et al., 2003). Crushed leaves are used in various states of pain and inflammation as in carbuncles, abcessess, swellings and heat rashes of children in summer (Perry, 1980) and crushed flowers are used for treating migraine (Khare, 2007). Phytochemical investigation of Luffa cylindrica reveals that leaves contain flavonoids (Schilling and Heiser, 1981), saponins (Liang et al., 1993 and 1996) and triterpenes (Nauking Institute of Materia Medica, 1980), while flowers contain flavonoids (Schilling and Heiser, 1981). The fruit contains triterpenoid saponins and seed contains polypeptides (Partap et al., 2012). Whole plant reported to