The fruits of are prescribed in the ayurvedic literature for the treatment of pain, inflammation and rheumatic conditions. use of fruits of in the treatment of pain and inflammatory conditions. It further establishes the potent anti-arthritic effects of BA. However, additional clinical investigations are needed to show the efficacy of BA in the treatment of numerous immuno-inflammatory disorders. 1. Introduction The current treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is intended to minimize the associated pain and inflammation using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as well as to decelerate the progress of the disease by using disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). DMARDs suppress the immunological processes involved in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Drugs Hydrochlorothiazide supplier that have the effects of both DMARDs and NSAIDs may be more effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, but there is a scarcity of such drugs acting through multiple mechanisms. Hence, the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis entails the combined use of NSAIDs and DMARDs [1]. Due to chronic nature of rheumatoid arthritis, advanced age of the patients and adverse reactions of the NSAIDs and DMARDs, the arthritic patients tend to search for alternative treatments that are effective and less harmful and reduce the pill burden. Hence, they generally prefer complementary and option medicines [2]. In Indian traditional medicines, ayurvedic literature explains potions made up of parts of certain plants for treating painful and inflammatory conditions like arthritis. Roxb. (Lecythidaceae) is usually one such herb [3, 4]. The extracts prepared from different parts of this herb have been reported to have various biological activities such as anti-tumor, anti-nociceptive, has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activity [10]. The observed activities have been correlated with the lycopene present in leaves. Several diterpenoids and triterpenoids have also been isolated from various parts of and it has been proposed that some of these are implicated in the biological activities of the herb. The ethnomedicinal use of the fruits of in arthritic disorders, however, has not been systematically investigated so far. Furthermore, the phytochemical moiety responsible for these effects is not yet known. Therefore, the present study was designed to determine the anti-arthritic activity of bartogenic acid (BA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid isolated from your fruits of were purchased from the local market. Dr P.S.N. Rao of the Botanical Survey of India, Pune, India, authenticated a specimen (voucher no 74843). A sample of an authentic Rabbit Polyclonal to NRIP2 marker of BA was generously provided by Dr Mangala Gowri, Senior Scientist, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, India, as a gift. A diclofenac sodium (DCS) sample was received from Cipla Ltd, Goa, India, as a gift. CFA was purchased from Sigma Aldrich, USA. C-reactive protein (CRP) and Rhelax rheumatoid factor (RF) kits were purchased from Agappe Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd, Hydrochlorothiazide supplier Kerala, India, and Tulip Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., Goa, India, respectively. Anesthetic ether was obtained from Loba Chemicals, Mumbai. The other chemicals and solvents used in the extraction, fractionation and chromatographic separations were of analytical grade. 2.2. Extraction, Isolation and Characterization of BA Hexane, ethanol and methanol extracts were obtained by chilly maceration. The methanol extract displayed the most potent anti-inflammatory activity in the carrageenan-induced paw inflammation model in rats. Hence this extract was further fractionated into (strain H37Ra, ATCC-25177) was injected into the paw of the right hind limb of each rat. 2.5. Evaluation of the Severity of Arthritis The primary and secondary lesions, that is, paw volumes of injected and non-injected paws, were measured using a digital plethysmometer (UGO Basile 7140, Italy), Hydrochlorothiazide supplier after which adjuvant was administered. The lesions were measured again around the 7th, 14th, and 21st days after injection of the adjuvant [12, 13]. During the experimental period, the body excess weight was measured using a digital weighing balance every 3rd day after adjuvant injection. The severity of arthritis was recorded by a blinded observer using the visual arthritis scoring systems explained by Kumar et al. and Laird et al. [11, 14]. The arthritis score ranged from 0 to 4; where 0 indicates the least but definite swelling and 4 represents the maximum swelling. This scoring system entails observations of all four paws and giving a separate score for each limb. Scores were assigned for evaluation of the pain associated with the arthritis as shown in Table 1. Hydrochlorothiazide supplier Table 1.