Attached
Introduction and Objectives: Globally, populations are aging at a rapid rate and the elderly
citizens are burdened with chronic debilitating diseases such as arthritis, non - articular
rheumatism, spondylosis, arthralgia, frozen shoulder, fibrositis, gout, neuralgia, etc.
Rasnasapthakaya (RS) decoction is a well-known herbal formulation, which is used to treat
chronic arthritic conditions in Ayurvedic medicine. RS decoction is a potent anti-inflammatbry
drug, which is prepared by seven herbal ingredients such as Alpinia calcarata, Tinospora
cordifolia, Cassia fistula, Boerhavia diffusa, Cedrusdeodara, Ricinus communis and Tribulus
terrestris. According to the literature, the decoction is being given with dried ginger powder as
a vehicle. However, in most of the Ayurvedha hospitals in Sri Lanka, the decoction is being
given without ginger powder. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the antiinflammatory activity of the decoction with and without dried ginger powder in Wistar rats
using carrageenan induced paw oedema model. The animal experiment was approved by
the Ethics Review Committee of Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri
Jayewardenapura (Approval number 693/12).
Methodology: Healthy male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 4 groups (n=6 in each
group) as Group I (negative control-water-2.5ml), Group II (Indomethacin- 10mg/kg), Group
III (RS decoction with ginger powder- 40mg/kg) and Group IV (RS decoction without ginger
powder). For this study, the RS decoction was freshly prepared according to the Ayurvedha
conventional method. The paw oedema was induced by injecting 1 % of 0.1ml carrageenan to
all the groups after one hour of the oral treatments. The paw volumes were measured by
digital plethysmometer at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4,hand 5th hours.
Conclusion: The results of the present study demonstrate that the Rasnasapthakaya
decoction with dried ginger powder has more potent anti-inflammatory effect than the
decoction without ginger in Wistar rats
