Abstract

EVALUATION OF ANTIHISTAMINIC AND BRONCHODILATOR ACTIVITY OF A SIDDHA DRUG NAAURUVI KUZHI THYLAM

*Esaivani S.

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of allergy and asthma (Suvasa irumal ICD-DBA1.3)
has risen in the recent years despite an improvement in the general
health of the population. Bronchial asthma (Suvasa irumal) is one of
the most complex disorders of the airway characterized by reversible
airway obstruction inflammation, bronchial hyper-responsiveness and
excessive mucous production. Naauruvi Kuzhi thylam (NKT) is a
Siddha herbal formulation indicated in literature for the management
of Asthma (Suvasa irumal). However the drug is not ethically
validated hence the present study was focused to evaluate the in vitro
antihistaminic action of NKT in isolated guinea pig ileum and in vivo
bronchodilator activity was carried out in four groups of guinea pig
each consisting of five animals. Group 1 was treated as control, Group
II received NKT at the dose 250 mg/kg and Group III animals received NKT 500 respectively.
Group IV animals received the standard drug Chlorpheniramine maleate 2mg/kg. Prior to
drug treatment each guinea pig was exposed to an atomized fine mist of 2% w/v histamine
dihydrochloride aerosol. The results were statistically analysed by one way analysis of
variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnet “t” test. The results conclude that the study drug
NKT possess antihistaminic and bronchodilator activity.

Keywords: Naauruvi Kuzhi thylam (NKT), Traditional medicine, Herbal medicine, Antihistaminic action, Anti-asthmatic, Bronchodilator, Bronchial asthma.