Antiinflammatory activity of Albizia lebbeck (L.) BENTH

Albizia lebbeck (L.) BENTH (Fabaceae), popularly known as Sirisha, is employed in Indian folk medicine for the treatment of boils, cough, pain, swelling and it is also used against diarrhea. The anti-inflammatory activity was assessed using acute and subacute models of inflammation in rats. These studies demonstrated that oral administration of ethyl acetate extract of Albizia lebbeck (EAL) (100, 200, 400 mg/kg) exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity. In acute inflammation as produced by carrageenan 62.19% after 5h, by histamine 43.19%, by dextran 45.29%, by serotonin 68.84 while in subacute anti-inflammatory model using formaldehyde-induced hind paw edema (after 5 h) 31.5% and cotton pellets 13.48% protection from inflammation was observed at 400 mg/kg orally dose of EAL. EAL neither show ulcerogenic effect at different doses of EAL nor show any sign of toxicity and mortality up to a dose level of 5000 mg/kg, p.o. in rats & mice. These data indicate that EAL possesses significant anti- anti-inflammatory activity. Keywords: Acute toxicity, Anti-inflammatory, Albizia lebbeck