LAUSR

Abstract Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv. (Poaceae family) is a perennial weed growing in tropical and subtropical areas and it is used in several herbal preparations to treat specific pathologic factors inducing pain. This work aimed to determine the in vitro antioxidant and in vivo anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities of the aerial parts of this plant. The methanol extract (MEIC) was used for (i) phytochemical fingerprint by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), (ii) total phenolic content (TPC) evaluation by the Folin-Ciocalteu colourimetric method, (iii) 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenger spectrophotometric assay, (iv) antioxidant capacity by Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay, (v) analgesic activity evaluated with the acetic acid-induced writhing test, (vi) anti-inflammatory activity evaluation by carrageenan-induced paw oedema, (vii) antipyretic effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced fever in rats, and (viii) acute and sub-chronic toxicity in mice. The MEIC presented an average rate of TPC (1920.63 ± 360.62 mgGAE/100 g of dry weight (DW)), which is mostly represented by tannins (37.30%), organic acids (32.84%) and flavonols (10.88%). The DPPH free radical scavenger spectrometric assay showed the antioxidant capacity of the MEIC (IC50 = 192.07 ± 0.78 µg/mL) confirmed by the FRAP assay results (29.60 ± 0.55 mmol Fe2+/Kg of DW). The MEIC decreased significantly the number of writhing in a dose-dependent manner (p