Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Potential of Methanolic Extract of Emilia Sonchifolia (Compositae) Leaves in Rodents

Emilia sonchifolia (Lin)DC (compositae) has found various medicinal uses in folkloric medicine, as a cure for various ailment such as sore-throat, tonsillitis, styptic, vulnery, wounds healing, stomach ache, conjunctivitis, depurative, infantile tympanitis, anticonvulsants, bowel complaints and sores; aqueous extract is used to treat internal heat among pregnant women. The need to pharmacologically establish these claims stimulated this investigation of the plant. The LD50, preliminary phytochemical screening, anti-inflammatory and analgesic potentials of the methanolic extracts of Emilia sonchifolia (ES) were investigated in mice using carragenin, egg albumin, capsaicin-induced paw oedema, formalin-induced paw licking, acetic acid induced writhing and hot plate nociception in mice. The LD50 i.p. was calculated to be 2874.02mg/kg; phytochemical screening revealed the presence of terpines, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and alkaloids. The extract (287.4, 574.8, 862.2, ASA (100mg/kg) and 574.8 + ASA (mg/kg) (i.p.) produced a dose dependent (p