The present study determined the anti-inflammatory activity of Wissadula amplissima var rostrata (Schum. & Thonn.), and calculated the total phenolic content and total
antioxidant capacity of the plant in an attempt to justify the traditional uses of the plant in the Ashanti region of Ghana for the management of spider,wasps and bee
stings. Powdered dried leaves of Wissadula amplissima were Soxhlet extracted with
Petroleum Ether (PWA, yield: 1.46% (w)/(w));
Chloroform (CWA, yield: 1.18% (w)/(w)) and
Methanol (MWA, yield: 3.39% (w)/(w)). These fractions were tested for anti-inflammatory activity using
carrageenan-induced foot
edema in 7 day old chicks. The effect before the induction of
inflammation (pre-emptive protocol) paradigm was used for the assessment.
Oral administration of PWA, CWA and MWA (30 - 300 mg/kg) dose dependently reduced
edema with maximal effects of 68.25±2.03%, 77.83±0.81% and 62.21±2.61% respectively. Similarly the
NSAID,
Diclofenac (10 - 100 mg/Kg, i.p) and the steroidal anti-inflammatory
drug dexamethasone (0.3 - 3 mg/Kg, i.p) used as positive controls, dose-dependently inhibited the
edema with maximal effect of 87.96±1.11% and 67.47±3.51% respectively. The potencies exhibited by all three extracts were comparable to that shown by
Diclofenac but higher than that of
Dexamethasone.
Phenols were detected in all three extracts with the highest concentration in the MWA. The extracts also scavenged DPPH with EC(50) values of 0.9784, 0.9096 and 0.2767 for PWA, CWA, MWA respectively. The results of this study give scientific credence to the local use of Wissadula amplissima to modulate
inflammation induced by
stings of animals.