Phytochemical evaluation and anti-hemorrhoidal activity of bark of Acacia ferruginea DC

The present study has been carried out to evaluate antihemorrhoidal activity of bark of Acacia ferruginea DC. The total phenolic, total flavonoid and saponins were determined. Anti-hemorrhoidal potential of bark extract was determined by levels of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6, PGE2 and recto-anal coefficient (RAC). The histopathological examination was done to evaluate the severity score in the treated and untreated groups. The results of phytochemical screening of the hydroalcoholic extract of A. ferruginea revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, triterpenoid, saponins, tannins and phenolic compounds The total phenolic, flavonoid and saponin contents were found to be 438.8mg/g GAE, 66.6mg/gRE and 34%w/w respectively. Hydroalcoholic extract of bark of A. ferruginea significantly reduced the inflammatory cytokines {TNF-α(8.40±0.188), IL-6(3.95±0.181), PGE2(53.27±2.956) and RAC(0.998±0.094)}as compared to positive control group{TNF-α(13.36±0.141), IL-6(7.25±0.161), PGE2(82.34±3.395) and RAC(1.131 ± 0.008)}. Noticeably the results were comparable to that of standard pilex granules {TNF-α (7.12±0.166), IL-6(3.01±0.156), PGE2(42.51±2.157) and RAC (0.968±0.084)}. Molecular docking and structure based pharmacophore mapping further confirmed the anti-inflammatory mediated antihemorrhoidal activity of the hydroalcoholic extract. The antihemorrhoidal activity of hydroalcoholic extract of A. ferruginea may attribute to the flavonoids.