Assessment of Efficacy and Safety of Methanolic Leaf Extract of Prosopis Juliflora in Lipopolysaccharide Induced Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) in Wistar Albino Rats

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of methanolic leaf extract of Prosopis juliflora (PJ) in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) in rats using clinical, hematological, biochemical parameters, inflammatory markers, histopathological examination of vital organs and mortality. Materials and Methods: 60 male Wistar albino rats were divided into 4 groups with 18 rats each in groups 1, 2 &3 and 6 rats in group 4. Rats in group 1 were not given any treatment and served as inflammation (SIRS) control while rats in group 2 received Hydrocortisone 5 mg/kg IV 12th hourly and rats in group 3, received methanolic leaf extract of PJ2 mg/kg 12th hourly orally from day 1 to day 3. SIRS was induced in groups 1 to 3 on day 4 with single intraperitoneal injection of LPS. The rats in groups 1-3 were divided into subgroups- A, B and C, that were sacrificed on day 5, 6 and 7, ie., 24, 48 and 72 hours after LPS injection respectively. The treatment was continued with hydrocortisone and PJ leaf extract in groups 2 and 3 till the animals were sacrificed. The laboratory assessments were carried out at the time of sacrificing the animals. Group 4 animals did not receive any treatment and were sacrificed on day 4 to provide presumptive baseline data. The data were statistically compared using repeated measures ANOVA within the groups and one-way ANOVA between the groups. Results: The results showed that PJ leaf extract exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in terms of improvement in body temperature, total WBC count and all the inflammatory markers and the data was statistically significant for all parameters (p<0.05). Conclusion: Based on the results, it can be concluded that PJ has a potential therapeutic role in SIRS.