Engidawork, Ephrem (PhD)Nedi, Teshome (PhD)Seid, Jibril2018-06-212023-11-062018-06-212023-11-062014-04http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/2819The search for new anti-inflammatory agents from the huge array of medicinal plant resources is intensifying because currently available anti-inflammatory drugs pose a major problem including induction of gastric or intestinal ulcers as well as cardiovascular side effects during their clinical use. A previous study indicated that the aqueous and methanol extracts of the root of the I. spicata possessed anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity. In an effort to further the research, the present study was aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of chloroform, absolute methanol and aqueous fractions of the roots of the plant. To this effect, different doses of the fractions (50,100 and 200 mg/kg) were investigated for anti-inflammatory activity using acute (carrageenan induced mouse paw edema) and sub acute (formalin induced mouse paw edema) model of inflammation. The methanol and aqueous fractions of I. spicata significantly inhibited carrageenan induced edema (p < 0.001) with maximal percent inhibition of 45.9 and 39.6 respectively, observed at dose of 200 mg/kg. Similarly, these fractions significantly inhibited formalin induced edema (p < 0.001) with maximal effect (41.5 vs. 40.4%) observed at the same dose. The chloroform fraction did not show significant inhibition of paw edema at all dose levels in both models. Phytochemical analysis revealed differential distribution of secondary metabolites. These findings suggest that the plant indeed is endowed with anti- inflammatory activity, which could be probably attributed to active principles that are semi-polar to polar in nature. Keywords: I. spicata, anti-inflammatory activity, Indomethacin, Carrageenan, FormalinenI. spicata, anti-inflammatory activity; Indomethacin; Carrageenan; FormalinThesis