Investigation of anti-arthritic, antioxidant properties of dichloromethane fraction of Alstonia scholarisLinn. in Freund’s complete adjuvant induced rats and identification of biomarker

Alstonia scholaris(Family: Apocynaceae) is a medicinal plant which has been indicated for the treatment of various diseases including arthritis in folklore medicine. The antiarthritic activity of the ethanolic extract of Alstonia scholarisleaves is reported. The present study was performed to establish the antiarthritic activity of the dichloromethane fraction (DCM) and to identify the constituent(s) responsible for the activity. DCM was tested for antiarthritic activity against Freund’s Complete Adjuvant (FCA) induced arthritic rats. Arthritis assessment, nociceptive threshold and body weight were measured. On day 28, plasma tumor necrosis factor α, synovial leukocyte concentration, synovial tissue myeloperoxide, malonaldehyde, glutathione, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase were determined. Effect of DCM on ethanol and sodium salicylate induced gastropathy was also studied. DCM was subjected to HPTLC analysis and the phytoconstituent was identified using marker. DCM significantly decreased the signs of arthritis evident with decreased arthritis index, body weight, TNF-α and leukocyte infiltration. DCM significantly reduced gastric lesion indices and gastric juice secretion. It also significantly decreased the levels of lipid peroxidation and myeloperoxide in the articular tissue, whereas significantly increased the antioxidant enzymes glutathione, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. Moreover DCM was found to contain ursolic acid, which is one of the biomarkers indicated to have anti-inflammatory activity. The present study is suggestive that DCM has prominent antiarthritic activity which may be attributed to its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. The Ursolic acid may contribute the found antiarthritic activity in part or whole.