ABSTRACT:
Herbal medicine has become a global importance in both medicinal and economical. Although the usage of these herbal medicines has increased their quality, safety and efficiency are serious concerns. They are devoid of typical side effects of allopathic medicines and therefore herbal drug formulations would be a preferred option. So there is a need to investigate such drugs and their efficient formulation for the better patient acceptance. Boswellia serrata is a common medicinal plant, has multiple uses in the traditional medicine and in particular for the treatment of inflammatory disease. Boswellia serrata is a moderate to large sized branching tree of family Burseraceae (genus Boswellia), grows in dry mountainous regions of India, North Africa and Middle East. The oleo-gum resin contains 30-60% resin, 5-10% essential oils, which are soluble in the organic solvents and rest is polysaccharides. The four major pentacyclic triterpenic acids are beta - boswellic acid, acetyl beta -boswellic acid, 11-keto- beta -boswellicacid, acetyl-11-keto- beta -boswellic acid which are responsible for inhibition of pro inflammatory enzymes. The presence of boswellic acid was done using TLC and HPTLC. In the present study the anti inflammatory activity of boswellic acid was increased by its complexation with phosphatidylcholine. The phytovesicles are then compared with the conventional gel formulation containing Boswellia serrata extract .In vitro anti inflammatory testing reveals boswellic acids blocks the inflammatory mediators. The results of the study showed that phytovesicular gel formulation has significantly increased anti inflammatory activity compared with conventional gel formulation.