The use of medicinal plants in curing diseases is as old as human being. The World Health Organization (WHO) has long recognized and drawn the attention of many countries to the ever increasing interest of the public in the use of medicinal plants and their products in the treatment of various ailments. These plants which are found in our environment enjoy wide acceptability through the population and serve as cheaper alternatives to orthodox medicine (1). However, many plants are known to be toxic. For this reason, the present research is carried out in order to determine the pharmacological action and the toxicity of medicinal plants (2). The brine shrimp cytotoxicity assay was considered as a convenient probe for preliminary assessment of toxicity (3).
Inflammation is an important physiological reaction which occurs in response to a wide variety of injurious agents (e.g. bacterial infection, physical trauma, chemicals or any other phenomenon) ultimately aiming to perform the dual function of limiting damage and promoting tissue repair (4). However, excessive or persistent inflammation causes a variety of pathological conditions, such as bacterial septic shock and rheumatoid arthritis (5). It is necessary to manage the hyper-inflammation to a useful level, to change the clinical manifestation of the disease. The scientific interest has now been diverted towards the natural compounds which are biocompatible, safe and also cost-effective. Thus, efforts are continuously being made to identify such agents and to validate their scientific authenticity (6).
Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz (syn. Woodfordia floribunda Salisb.) belongs to the family Lythraceae and is locally known as Dhavdi (Gujarat, India) (7). All parts of this plant possess valuable medicinal properties viz. anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, hepatoprotective and free radical scavenging activity (8-11), but its flowers are in maximum demand (12). The flowers are being used in the preparation of Ayurvedic fermented drugs called Aristhas and Asavas, and are very popular in the Indian subcontinent as in other South Asian countries (13). In the current study, the aim was to study the brine shrimp cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory (acute and chronic) and analgesic activity of the methanol extract of Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz. flowers.