Antioxidant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Leucas cephalotes (Roxb.ex Roth) Spreng

Abstract

The whole plant of the methanolic extract from Leucas cephalotes was screened for invitro antioxidant (using the DPPH method), invivo analgesic (using hot plate test in mice) and anti-inflammatory (using rat paw edema test) activities. The methanolic extract of Leucas cephalotes (MELC) scavenged the DPPH radicals in a dose-dependent manner. The IC50 value to scavenge DPPH radicals was found to be 421.3µg/ml. A significant (p<0.0005) analgesic activity was observed at 60 min with 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg exhibited maximum activity. The maximum anti-inflammatory response was produced at 3 hr and 2 hr with doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg, respectively. These results suggest that the methanolic extract from Leucas cephalotes exerts significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, which were comparable with standard drugs.