Abstract

A REVIEW ON IN-VITRO MODELS FOR SCREENING ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS

Iyrin Abraham* and Preethu P. John

ABSTRACT

Inflammation is one of the common events in the majority of acute as well as chronic debilitating diseases and represent a chief cause of morbidity in today’s era of modern lifestyle. If unchecked, inflammation leads to development of rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and atherosclerosis along with pulmonary, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. Inflammation involves a complex network of many mediators, a variety of cells, and execution of multiple pathways. Current therapy for inflammatory diseases is limited to the steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents. The chronic use of these drugs is reported to cause severe adverse effects like gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal abnormalities. There is a massive need to explore new anti-inflammatory agents with selective action and lesser toxicity. Anti-inflammatory activity study involves developing a model that mimics, or provokes the production or release of, the biochemical mediators of inflammation, and monitoring the response of these biochemicals to the test drugs. This report constitutes an updated review of the in-vitro study models for assessing anti-inflammatory activity in plant extracts and synthetic drugs. The materials, instrumentation, and methods involved, as well as the mechanism of anti-inflammatory activity tested in each model, are extensively described.

Keywords: Inflammation, Anti-Inflammatory, Screening, In-Vitro Model.