Dermatological evaluation of counter irritant effect of methanol leaf extract of Rumexvesicarius Linn. in rabbits.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the counter-irritant and anti-inflammatory activity of Rumexvesicarius in dermatological use.

METHODS

The animal-based experimental study was conducted at the Royal Institute of Medical Sciences, Multan, Pakistan, in November 2014. Sodium lauryl sulfate, phenol, histamine and sandpaper irritation models were used. Irritation was induced by the clockwise frictional movement of fine sandpaper to the ear of rabbits and then applying sodium lauryl sulfate, histamine and phenol single topical application onto the ear of the rabbit. The counter-irritant effect was determined by calculating the mean decrease in redness and erythema with those of control and standard dexamethasone.

RESULTS

There were 20 rabbits in the study with a mean weight of 1.50±0.033 kg. R. vesicarius (100 and 150mg/mL) showed excellent counter-irritant effect when compared with control and standard groups. Both the doses depicted counter-irritant effect with the highest inhibition (94.42%) in sandpaper group, followed by sodium lauryl sulphate (90%), phenol (94.23%) and histamine (88.46%) irritation models respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Methanol leaf extract of R. vesicarius countered the effect of irritation in experimental animals. It showed significant effect in terms of dose and counter-irritancy time.