Borneo Journal of Pharmacy http://journal.umpalangkaraya.ac.id/index.php/bjop/article/view/2968 Vol 5 Issue 1 February 2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33084/bjop.v5i1.2968 Page 56 – 62 e-ISSN: 2621-4814 INTRODUCTION Inflammation is the body's normal response to wounds, injuries, microbial infections, allergies, and other harmful factors 1,2 . Symptoms of inflammation are pain, swelling, redness, heat, fever, and loss of body tissue function 3 . These symptoms are caused by inflammatory mediators and chemical agents such as prostaglandins (PG), serotonin, histamine, bradykinin, nitric oxide, and leukotrienes 4 . Inflammation plays a vital role in the physiological process. However, if the inflammatory process is prolonged and the offending agent persists, the intended protective process tends to be destructive that can damage the cell and cause various diseases 5-7 . Steroid and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often used to treat pain and manage inflammatory conditions. The NSAIDs inhibit cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and COX-2), decreasing prostaglandin production 8,9 . The use of such drugs causes severe side effects, including severe gastrointestinal toxicities such as gastric ulcers and bleeding. Therefore, this instigates the development of effective, safe, and economic anti-inflammatory drugs 10 . Anti-inflammatory Activity of Water Extract of Luvunga sarmentosa (BI.) Kurz Stem in the Animal Models Sabar Deyulita 1 Hilkatul Ilmi 2 Hanifah Khairun Nisa 2 Lidya Tumewu 2 Aty Widyawaruyanti 2,3 Achmad Fuad Hafid 2,3* 1 Master Program of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia 2 Center for Natural Product Medicine Research and Development, Institute of Tropical Disease, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia 3 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia * email: achmadfuad@yahoo.com Keywords: Animal Antiinflammatory Luvunga sarmentosa Medicine Abstract The study was aimed to determine the anti-inflammatory activity of water extract of the Luvunga sarmentosa stem in an animal model. Twenty-five Wistar rats were divided into five groups (n=5). Group 1 was administered 0.9% normal saline (negative control), group 2 was administered 150 mg/kg diclofenac sodium (positive control), and groups 3 to 5 were administered 50, 300, and 550 mg/kg BW of L. sarmentosa extract, respectively. Carrageenan was injected subcutaneously into each rat's subplantar region of the left hind paw. The paw volume was measured using a plethysmometer. The results showed that the water extract of L. sarmentosa stem (doses of 50, 300, and 550 mg/kg BW) significantly reduced the paw edema volume from the 4 th to 5 th hour compared to the negative control. The percent inhibition of edema at the 5 th hour is 47.45; 46.95; 50.39%. The first phase of the edema (1 st and 2 nd hour) was not affected by the extract. Meanwhile, diclofenac sodium decreased paw edema volume from the 1 st to 5 th hour with a percent inhibition of 95.90% at the 5 th hour. The histopathology result is relevant to the percentage inhibition of edema. Treatment with L. sarmentosa extract showed slight improvement, destruction of epidermal tissue, hyperkeratotic skin, and subepidermal edema. Meanwhile, positive control showed no inflammatory signs with normal keratin, subepidermal, and subcutaneous layers. The water extract of L. sarmentosa stem has anti-inflammatory activity. This extract effectively reduces the paw edema volume in the late phase with decreased neutrophil infiltration. Received: December 3 rd , 2021 Revised: January 27 th , 2022 Accepted: February 1 st , 2022 Published: February 28 th , 2022 © 2022 Sabar Deyulita, Hilkatul Ilmi, Hanifah Khairun Nisa, Lidya Tumewu, Aty Widyawaruyanti, Achmad Fuad Hafid. Published by Institute for Research and Community Services Universitas Muhammadiyah Palangkaraya. This is an Open Access article under the CC-BY-SA License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). DOI: https://doi.org/10.33084/bjop.v5i1.2968 Research Article