PHARMACODYNAMIC EVALUATION OF POLYHERBS AND ITS FORMULATION FOR ANTI-TUSSIVE ACTIVITY USING CITRIC ACID INDUCED IN GUINEA PIG

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the antitussive activity of Polyherbal extract containing Curcuma zedoaria rhizomes extract, Salvadora persica leaf extract, Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract, Andrographis paniculata leaf extract, Ocimum tenuiflorum leaf extract, citric acid Induced cough in guinea pigs. Six groups of guinea pigs (n = 6 in each group) were given the polyherbal formulation orally at a dose of 2000 mg/kg body weight for 14 consecutive days. On the first day, a cough was induced with citric acid, and the cough latency was measured in the first second and after 7 minutes, also used cytokine modulation.The latency to first cough was reduced from 13.3 s (disease control) when the linctus level was 3%, while the total number of coughs/7 min decreased from 12.5 to 5.1. The cough inhibition was 89% at 3% of linctus and 92% for dextromethorphan. Cumulative drug release in in-vitro diffusion study was found to be 94-98% at 16 hrs with maximum release achieved with the 3% linctus. Cytokine modulation showed decreases in TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β compared with disease control.The conclusion of the study shows that the prepared polyherbal linctus is pharmaceutically stable and has considerable antitussive activity almost equal to the standard treatment and can be used as a safe herbal alternative for cough and cold treatment.