Pharmacological evaluation for haematinic activity of Siddha formulation Lavana Dravagam in rat model

Introduction and Aim:  Anaemia is the most common deficiency disorder among people of all age groups, known as Paandu in the Siddha system of medicine. The test drug siddha poly mineral formulation Lavana Dravagam mentioned in Siddha literature kannukamiyam ennum vaithiya segaram, has been used for pandu (anaemia). Dravagam is a form of internal medicine, processed by distillation method and is also referred as Pugai neer, Shakthi neer, Dravaga neer. The study aimed to evaluate the haematinic activity and efficacy of poly mineral Siddha formulation Lavana Dravagam against phenylhydrazine induced anaemic albino Wistar rat model.   Materials and Methods:  The animals were selected and divided into four groups (I, II, III, and IV) of six rats (n=6) each. Anaemia was induced by an oral administration of phenylhydrazine (single dose of 10 mg/kg per oral for 8 days). Group I served as normal control and Group II received standard drug hematinic syrup in suspension form at dose 2 mL/kg. Groups III, IV received the formulated oral indiffusible mixture of Lavana Dravagam at a dose of 0.02ml to 0.03ml/kg respectively. RBC, Hb, PCV, MCV, MCH, were analyzed as indices of anaemia. The mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular Hb, and mean corpuscular Hb concentration were calculated.   Results: From the literature evidence, acute toxicity evaluation and pharmacological studies, the drug Lavana Dravagam is found out to have hematinic activity. This study reveals that there is significant (P<0.05) increase in RBC count, Hb level, and PCV by administering phenylhydrazine within one week of treatment.   Conclusion: It could be concluded that the drug Lavana dravagam will have promising effects in the management of anaemia (Paandu).