Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the anti-inflammatory activity of methanol extract of Niebuhria apetala and its possible mechanism of action. Methods: Methanol extract of Niebuhria apetala leaf (NAL) was assessed for its anti-inflammatory activity by in vitro methods. Using albumin denaturation assay, proteinase inhibitory activity, membrane stabilization, and antilipoxygenase activity at different concentrations, in vitro anti-inflammatory activity was estimated. The standard drug used for this purpose was aspirin. Results: Methanol extract NAL at a concentration range of 100–500 μg/ml significant (p<0.01) protects the heat-induced protein denaturation. At the concentration of 500 mg/ml, NAL showed significant (p<0.01) inhibition of protease inhibitory action. Heat-induced hemolysis of erythrocyte, hypotonicity-induced hemolysis, and lipooxygenase activity were significant (p<0.01) inhibited at the concentration of 500 μg/ml. Conclusion: Finally, the present study indicates that methanol extract of Niebuhria apetala can be a potential source of anti-inflammatory agent.

Historically, natural products (NP’s) have played a significant role in drug discovery, not only in cancer and infectious diseases, but also in other therapeutic  areas including cardiovascular diseases and multiple sclerosis. Profit and loss, Partnerships and averages, natural products also present certain challenges for drug discovery, such as technical obstacles to screening, isolation, characterization and optimization, which added to decline in their search by the pharmaceutical industry from the 1990s onwards. In recent days the applications of molecular biological techniques have increased the availability of novel compounds that can be conveniently produced in bacteria or yeast or plant sources. In addition to this, combinational chemistry approaches are being based on natural product scaffolds to create screening libraries that closely resemble drug-like compounds. Employing these technologies gives us a chance to execute research in screening new molecules by means of a software and data base to ascertain natural products as a major source for drug discovery. It lastly directs to lead structure discovery. This review discusses plant based natural product drug discovery and how innovative technologies play a role in next generation drug discovery and highlights from the published literature on plants as sources of antiinflammatory agents.   GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

The Indigofera are frequently shrubs, and some are small trees or herbaceous perennials or annuals. These have pinnate leaves. Racemes of flowers grow in the leaf axils, in hues of red, but there are a few white- and yellow-flowered species. The fruit is a legume pod of varying size and shape. Botanical description schedule as; Kingdom: Plantae, (unranked): Angiosperms, (unranked): Eudicots, (unranked): Rosids, Order: Fabales, Family: Fabaceae, Subfamily: Faboideae, Tribe: Indigofereae, Genus: Indigofera.  1620 plant name records match your search criteria Indigofera. The names found have these generic epithets: as accepted in the plant list online data base. That plants were; Indigofera argentea / I. articulate, Indigofera aspalathoides Vahl. Indigofera enneaphylla Linn. Indigofera glabra Linn. Indigofera glandulosa Willd. Indigofera linifolia Retz. Indigofera pulchella Roxb. Indigofera tinctoria Linn. Indigofera trifoliata Linn. Indigofera trita Linn. Books mentioned 04 species were not latest updated Plant List Online data base which were; Indigofera caerulea Roxb. Indigofera cordifolia. Indigofera frutescens. Indigofera hirsuta. According to the Results and Discussion this research revealed that, 20 species of Indigofera genera by the evidence of books and 04 species synonyms like updated latest in online data base. However, 16 species available in the Thoothukudi District 16 species available commonly and 04 species were rarely showed in Thoothukudi District by randomly field to all soil types of areas.