Abstract

Albuca setosa is widely distributed in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa where its traditional usage is very extensive. This study was aimed to experimentally evaluate the effect of A. setosa water extract (ASWE) on inflammation events such as membrane stabilization, protein denaturation and white blood cell migration during acute inflammation. This study was undertaken using hypotonicity and heat induced erythrocytes haemolysis, heat induced albumin denaturation, carrageenan and dextran induced peritonis and rat paw edema. The results showed that ASWE at a concentration range of 125 - 500 μg/ml significantly (p < 0.01) protects the erythrocyte membrane against lysis induced by heat and hypotonic medium solution. At the dose of 500 and 125 μg/ml, ASWE showed significant (p < 0.01) inhibition of 59 and 65% of protein denaturation of egg albumin. Oral administration of 150 and 300 mg/kg of ASWE significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the total WBC count in rat paw fluid after inflammation induced by carrageenin and in the peritoneal wash after acute inflammation induced by dextran and carrageenan, respectively. The present work contributes to the validation of the anti-inflammatory activity of the plant and may provide some evidence for its folk use and further exploitation.

Key words: Albuca setosa, membrane stabilization, protein denaturation, white blood cell migration, anti-inflammatory activity.