Standardization and in vitro anti inflammatory studies of a poly herbal oil formulation - Megni.

Herbal formulation is the most ancient form of healthcare known to man. India, since ancient times provides a vast literature mentioning different plants and herbs having diverse activities. However, there is a need to standardize, formulate and evaluate the formulation for their activity. The main objective of the present study is to explore physiochemical and anti inflammatory activity of a polyherbal oil formulation-Megni. This formulation is used for Joint pains, Sprains, rheumatic pains. Preliminary quality control standards were applied for three batches of the PolyHerbal Formulation like organoleptic character, weight per ml, specific gravity, refractive index, acid value, saponification value, ester value, iodine value, un-saponifiable matter. Other critical parameters such as antiinflammatory activity, total microbial count, determination of heavy metals were studied. The result shows that the formulation obtained complies with quality control standards of the ayurvedic, siddha and Unani formulations and Indian Pharmacopeias standards. The formulation showed significant capacity to stabilize the HRBC membrane and inhibition of protein denaturation in comparison with standard drug Indomethacin (0.1mg/ml). 78.48% inhibition of haemolysis was noticed at 50μL μl volume of formulation and 91.78% inhibition of protein denaturation was noticed at 100μl of the formulation. Heavy metals, Microbial load of the formulation were well within the prescribed limits and were complied with WHO guidelines. This research work finally concludes that the formulation has shown no significant batch to batch variation and possesses excellent anti-inflammatory activity. Thus the standard value arrived at by the present study will be valuable for industrial quality control purpose.