Anti-Inflammatory Potential of Biophytum sensitivum, Leucas aspera, and Cleome viscosa: A Comprehensive Review

AbstractInflammation underlies the pathology of arthritis, dermatitis, colitis, atherosclerosis, and a wide range of other chronicillnesses. The drugs most widely relied upon against it today - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) andcorticosteroids - carry well-documented risks to the gut, kidneys, liver, and heart when used over long periods, and thishas pushed research attention back toward ethnomedicinal plants as a source of safer agents capable of acting onseveral targets at once. This review examines three plants long used in Indian traditional medicine for this purpose -Biophytum sensitivum (L.) DC. (Oxalidaceae), Leucas aspera (Willd.) Link (Lamiaceae), and Cleome viscosa L.(Cleomaceae) - covering their botanical identity, phytochemistry, the pharmacological evidence for anti-inflammatoryactivity, the in vitro and in vivo assays behind that evidence, and the molecular mechanisms proposed to explain it.Particular attention is given to the protein (albumin) denaturation assays performed with bovine serum albumin andwith egg albumin, the human red blood cell (HRBC) membrane-stabilisation assay, and the proteinase/hyaluronidaseinhibition assays, each described in terms of its underlying principle, standard procedure, and interpretive value. Adedicated table links the main phytoconstituent classes found across the three plants to their reported mechanisms ofaction. Comparing the three shows that all of them inhibit the cyclooxygenase-prostaglandin pathway and stabilise cellmembranes, though they differ in how deeply their mechanisms have been characterised, how much literature existsfor each, and how close they stand to clinical translation. The review closes by setting out research priorities that couldcarry these ethnomedicinal plants toward evidence-based anti-inflammatory therapeutics.