ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF PARTIALLY PURIFIED LECTIN FROM PRAECITRULLUS FISTULOSUS PHLOEM EXUDATES.
Objective: The objective of the present study is to determine the anti-inflammatory effect of a partially purified lectin from phloem exudates againstpaw edema mice model.Methods: Partially purified lectin was prepared by phloem exudates in phosphate buffer saline followed by ammonium sulfate precipitation anddialysis. Anti-inflammatory activity was determined against carrageenan-induced mice model and inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production wasdetermined.Results: Partially purified lectin exhibited promising anti-inflammatory activity at 50 mg/kg b.w. by reducing the edema volume significantly up to64% (**p<0.01) against control mice. Decrease in myeloperoxidase activity and NO production in paw exudates was observed up to 55.90 (*p<0.05)and 47.22% (*p<0.05), respectively, and this supports the anti-inflammatory property of the partially purified lectin.Conclusion: This finding indicated that further studies needed to purify and characterize a novel lectin from Praecitrullus fistulosus for elucidating themolecular mechanism of anti-inflammatory activity.