Abstract

Cassia singueana is used in ethnomedicine for the management of pain and other related ailments. This study aimed to investigate the phytochemical constituents of the plant’s root bark linked to the therapeutics claims of its analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. The plant material was obtained and identified, and its phytochemical fingerprint profile was established using GC-MS technique. The plant’s root bark was dried and ground into powder. The powdered material was extracted using 70% ethanol to obtain the crude extract (CECs). Another portion of the material (200 g) was extracted sequentially using soxhlet apparatus to obtain hexane (HFCs), chloroform (CFCs) and methanol MECs) fractions, respectively. The acute toxicity test (2000 mg/kg) and preliminary analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity (100 mg/kg, p.o.) of the extract and fractions were performed in mice using acetic acid-induced writhing and formalin respectively. The most active hexane fraction (HFCs) was subjected to HPLC analysis to investigate the active phytochemical constituents. They were then evaluated for analgesic and anti-inflammatory efficacy at 25, 100 and 400 mg/kg, p.o. using formalin (50 µl) induced pain in rats. Results showed that the root bark of C. singueana exhibited analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity against the pain induced model. HPLC analysis revealed that the phytochemical constituents linked to these activities are gallic acid, caffeic acid, luteolin and ferulic acid.

Key words: Cassia singueana, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, gallic acid, caffeic acid, luteolin, ferulic acid.