Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of methanol extract of <i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN;mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-IN">Phellinus rimosus </span></i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN;mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-IN">(Berk) Pilat</span>

Abstract

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-IN">The methanolic extract of a macro fungus, <i>P.rimosus </i>possessed significant <i>in vitro </i>superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical and nitric oxide scavenging and lipid peroxidation inhibiting activities. The anti-inflammatory activity of the extract was evaluated in carrageenan and dextran induced acute and formalin induced chronic inflammatory models in mice. The extract showed remarkable anti -inflammatory activity in both models, comparable to the standard reference drug diclofenac. The results suggest that the anti -inflammatory activity of the methanol extract of <i>P.rimosus </i>is possibly attributed to it's free radical scavenging properties. The findings also reveal the potential therapeutic value of <i>P.rimosus </i>extract as an anti-inflammatory agent.</span>