Studies on the anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of Jatropha curcas leaf extract

The anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of the aqueous extract of Jatropha curcas leaves were investigated. Anti-inflammatory effect was studied using acute rat model (carrageenan -induced rat paw oedema) in which aspirin at 150 mg.kg-(1), indomethacin at 10 mg.kg-(1) (both are standard anti-inflammatory drugs) and aqueous extract of Jatropha curcas leaves at 150 mg.kg-(1) were administered orally to 24 Wistar rats 1 h before induction of oedema and compared with a negative control given 10 ml.kg-(1) saline. Using the same dose of the plant extract, the analgesic effect of the aqueous extract of Jatropha curcas leaves was also investigated by measuring the number of acetic acid-induced writhing in 18 mice. The mean percentage inhibition of paw volume of rats treated with indomethacin was 83.9% followed by aspirin treated group with 64.3%, and the Jatropha curcas treated group with 60.7%. The mean number of writhing was significantly lower (P <0.05) in mice given aqueous extract of Jatropha curcas leaves (34.0) compared to the control group (55.8) but higher than that of the standard analgesic, paracetamol (23.5). This result suggests that Jatropha curcas has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties comparable with those of standard drugs and may be useful for the treatment of painful inflammatory conditions.