Water extract of Mucuna imbricata seeds was non‑toxic at tested doses and reduced carrageenan‑induced paw edema, oxidative stress (GSH, catalase, lipid peroxidation) and pro‑inflammatory cytokine gene expression in rats.

The extract's anti‑inflammatory and antioxidant effects are conceptually relevant to Parkinson's disease neuroinflammation and the Mucuna genus is a known L‑DOPA source, but absence of CNS, dopaminergic neuron, alpha‑synuclein, pharmacokinetic or PD‑model data limits immediate translational value…

Plants of the genus Mucuna have ethnomedicinal importance, several pharmacological activities along with its higher L-DOPA content as an anti-parkinson's drug. This study demonstrated the sub-acute lethality and anti-inflammatory potential of water extracts of Mucuna imbricata seed using in vivo carrageenan induced inflammation in the rat paw edema model. Sub-acute toxicity of water extract of M. imbricata, upto the concentration of 2000 mg/ Kg BW exhibited no such substantial alterations in hematological, biochemical, histological and behavioral parameters. The obtained results indicate that the extracts possesses significant restorastion of anti-inflammatory activity, which was found to be dose-dependent in carrageenan intoxicated female rats. In vivo anti-inflammatory potential of M imbricata seed extract showed significant reduction in the swelling after 5-6 h at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg. Paw edema was measured with a digital vernier caliper and a cold sensitivity experiment, tested extracts showed positively significant activity. In this study, subplantar injection of carrageenan induced the production of free radicals, which caused oxidative damage and lead to drop in GSH levels and the activity of the antioxidant enzyme catalase, as along with an increase in lipid peroxidation. Gene expression analysis reveled TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, iNOX-2 and MCP-1-50 genes were upregulated and IL-10 was downregulated in carrageenan induced rats. However M. imbricata extract restored the levels of anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokine (such as IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) expression, respectively. This study suggested that M. imbricata is the potential candidate to develop novel anti-inflammatory drug.