Screening for intestinal anti-inflammatory activity of Alpinia galanga against acetic acid-induced colitis in Mice (Mus musculus)

Abstract

The objective of the study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of Alpinia galanga rhizome extract against acetic acid induced colitis in male mice (Mus musculus). Twenty-eight (28) male albino mice were acclimatized for a total of two weeks prior to the actual experiment. Ten (10) of which were used in the preliminary experiment and the remaining eighteen (18) were used in the actual experiment. Each mouse (except for the control group, T0) was rectally instilled with 1 ml of 5% glacial Acetic acid. The treatments, distilled water, different concentrations of A. galanga extract (25%, 75% and 100%), and the positive control apple pectin were administered daily for 7 days via oral gavage. At study termination, the mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Colon was fixed in 10% formaldehyde solution and was processed for histologic evaluation. Statistics showed that significant differences were found among the treatments in terms of depth of necrosis, (p=0.002) and extent of inflammation (p=0.046) and none as regards the extent of necrosis (p=0.107) and fibrosis (p=0.458). The above result suggests that 50% to 75% Alpinia galanga extract are potential anti-inflammatory agent to Acetic Acid induced colitis in mice, and have comparable effect to apple pectin exhibiting similar microscopic histoarchitecture to normal mice after being treated and appeared to be beneficial to mice in treating chemically induced colitis.