4. Conclusions
Investigation of Pteranthus dichotomus revealed that it is highly safe, had anti-inflammatory
effect while it had moderate antipyretic effect and caused significant increase in the urine volume. It
had no effect on liver functions of the animals. While kidney functions were impaired after oral
administration, this may be attributed to high content of proteins in plant extract. It also observed that
the Pteranthus dichotomus alcoholic extract had Anti-tumor activity against Ehrlish ascites carcinoma
cells; the anti-tumor activity observed can be attributed to the presence of flavonoids. Certain dietary
flavonoids posses’ anti-tumor activity and this is directly linked to the hydroxylation pattern of the Bring
of the flavones and flavonols (such as luteolin and quercetin) seems to critically influence their
activities, especially the inhibition of protein kinase activity and anti-proliferation [28]. The antiinflammatory
and analgesic effect observed can be attributed to the presence of flavonoids and tannins
and consequently to their free radical scavenging activities [29]. In general the flavonoids have potent
inhibitory activity against a wide of enzymes such as lipo-oxygenases, cyclo-oxygenases and others [30-32]. It was reported that the flavonoids prevent the generation or action of the free radicals which
cause tissue damage during the inflammation [33]. A number of flavonoids have been reported to
produce analgesic activity. Also, there are few reports on the role of tannins in analgesic activity [34].