Studies on bronchodilatory effect of Lepidium sativum against allergen induced bronchospasm in guinea pigs

Abstract

The ethanolic extract of seeds of Lepidium sativum and its various fractions were tested for their bronchodilatory effect against histamine and acetylcholine induced acute bronchospasm in guinea pigs. The ethanolic extract and its all the fractions viz. ethyl acetate, n-butanol and methanol exhibited significant protection against bronchospasm induced by histamine and acetylcholine. However, significant (p<0.001) protection was exhibited by n-butanol fraction which was comparable with that of Ketotifen (1 mg/kg) and Atropine sulphate (2 mg/kg) included as reference standard in the study. Thus the results of our study suggest that, the plant L.sativum has bronchodilatory activity.

Keywords: Lepidium sativum; Bronchodilatory activity; Histamine; Acetylcholine