Pharmacological Evaluation of Moringa oleifera on Collagen- Induced Arthritis in Rats

Background and Objective: Arthritis associated with oxidative stress and chronic inflammation has been a major health problem among the people worldwide. The present study was aimed to investigate the potential anti-arthritis activity of the methanolic extract of leaves of Moringa oleifera was evaluated on Collagen induced arthritis.

Study Design: In-vivo model.

Place and Duration of the Study: Department of pharmacology, Karnataka College of pharmacy, Bangalore India, between January to September 2022.

Methods: The study was to evaluate anti-arthritic activity of Moringa oleifera (MO) against auto-immune arthritis in Wistar rats, using collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model. Effect of the methanol extract of Moringa oleifera in inflammatory response during CIA was studied by measuring CRP, different cytokines in serum and assessment of arthritis index, footpad swelling. Level of CRP, LPO, NO and an enzymatic activity of SOD and CAT was determined to assess the effect of the Moringa oleifera extract in neutralizing oxidative stress during CIA. Histology of Synovial membrane experiment has been performed to determine whether Moringa oleifera has any impact on the changes in synovial tissue during CIA.

Results: Post oral administration of Moringa oleifera at 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight doses decreased the arthritic index and footpad swelling. Moringa oleifera administration diminished pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum. The concentrations of pro-inflammatory TNFa, TGF-beta, IFNg, and IL-6 were elevated in the serum of the rat challenged with, type II collagen as compared to the std. and MtEMO-fed groups. Treatment with MtEMO in CIA induced rat significantly decreased these cytokines in serum. Decreased the serum level LPO, NO content, and SOD activity along with concomitant rise in CAT with the treatment of MtEMO. In addition decreased CRP in serum was also observed. Serum concentration of CRP, the most common type of acute phase proteins was tested in our experiments and was found to be significantly attenuated in case of CIA rat treated with MtEMO. Protective effect of MtEMO in CIA group is further supported from histopathological studies which showed improvement during bone damage and also shown less inflamed, and lymphocyte accumulation, cartilage damage decreased and less disruption of the synovial lining cell layer.

Conclusion: Based on the results it can be concluded that the test drug Moringa oleifera is capable of regulating oxidative stress during CIA and therefore down regulated local and systemic release of pro-inflammatory mediators.