Anti-Inflammatory Activity Evaluation

Anti-inflammatory evaluation combines in-vitro mechanistic assays with in-vivo efficacy models. In-vitro assays include the protein denaturation inhibition assay, which measures a test extract's ability to prevent heat-induced denaturation of egg albumin or bovine serum albumin, benchmarked against diclofenac; the hyaluronidase inhibition assay, which measures inhibition of the enzyme responsible for hyaluronic acid breakdown during inflammatory tissue damage; the proteinase inhibition assay, which measures inhibition of proteolytic enzymes released during inflammation; and colorimetric COX-1/COX-2 inhibition assays, which directly measure inhibition of the prostaglandin-synthesising cyclooxygenase enzymes targeted by conventional NSAIDs. In-vivo confirmation is most commonly performed using the carrageenan-induced paw oedema model, in which sub-plantar carrageenan injection produces measurable, plethysmometrically quantified paw swelling that is compared between extract-treated and indomethacin-treated reference groups; the cotton pellet granuloma model, which assesses chronic proliferative inflammation through the wet and dry weight of a subcutaneously implanted sterile cotton pellet; and the Complete Freund's Adjuvant arthritis model, which produces a chronic, immune-mediated polyarthritis suitable for evaluating disease-modifying, rather than purely symptomatic, anti-inflammatory activity.