Anti-Inflammatory Activity Is a Possible Mechanism by Which the Polyherbal Formulation Comprised of Nigella sativa (Seeds), Hemidesmus indicus (Root), and Smilax glabra (Rhizome) Mediates Its Antihepatocarcinogenic Effects

Table 1

Effect of the decoction administration on carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema.

Treatment groups	Increase in paw edema from the baseline (mean ± SEM), (% inhibition)
	1st h	2nd h	3rd h	4th h	5th h
Control (normal saline)	0.31 ± 0.09	0.43 ± 0.07	0.53 ± 0.09	0.49 ± 0.13	0.41 ± 0.12
Decoction control	0.21 ± 0.04^a*  (33%)	0.29 ± 0.08^a**(30%)	0.36 ± 0.1^a**  (32%)	0.35 ± 0.12^a*  (26%)	0.32±0.12^NS  (22%)
Diethylnitrosamine control	0.14 ± 0.03; (54%)	0.22 ± 0.06; (48%)	0.26 ± 0.09; (52%)	0.25 ± 0.07; (48%)	0.21 ± 0.09; (49%)
Test (DEN + DC)	0.14 ± 0.01; (60%)	0.21 ± 0.05; (52%)	0.22 ± 0.03^b*  (58%)	0.21 ±0.03^b*  (57%)	0.19 ± 0.03; (53%)
Indomethacin control	0.17 ± 0.05^a**  (45%)	0.25 ± 0.07^a**  (42%)	0.23 ± 0.06^a**  (57%)	0.22 ± 0.08^a**  (55%)	0.21 ± 0.04^a**  (48%)

Decoction was administered for 60 min before subplantar carrageenan injection. The change of footpad volume was determined at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 h after irritant injection. Each value represents the mean ± SEM of ten rats per group. Statistically significant difference with respect to the controls and expressed as ^∗𝑃≤0.05, ^∗∗𝑃≤0.001 (unpaired Student’s t-test). Figures within parenthesis indicate the differences from normal controls.
^aGroups 2 and 5 compared with Group 1.
^bGroup 4 compared with Group 3.