THERAPEUTIC EVALUATION OF HEDYCHIUM SPICATUM IN SMOKING INDUCED COPD IN MICE

• Ashish Kanthale

  Vidya Bharati College of Pharmacy, Amravati

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• Vivek Paithankar

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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), the third leading cause of global mortality, lacks treatments that reverse disease progression. This study evaluated the hydroethanolic extract of Hedychium spicatum rhizomes (HEE-HS), administered via nebulisation, in a cigarette smoke-induced COPD mouse model, compared against the standard drug roflumilast.

Thirty Swiss albino mice were divided into five groups: normal control, disease control, roflumilast (1 mg/kg oral), and HEE-HS at 100 and 200 mg/kg nebulised over 35 days. GC-MS analysis identified 1,8-cineole (28.6%), camphor (15.3%), and β-caryophyllene (12.8%) as dominant bioactive constituents, with an established LD₅₀ >2000 mg/kg.

HEE-HS at 200 mg/kg significantly reversed all COPD-related parameters, including body weight loss, lung hypertrophy, airflow obstruction (FEV₀.₁/FVC improved by 43.6%), neutrophilic inflammation in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6. Results were statistically comparable to roflumilast. Histopathology confirmed near-normal alveolar architecture with minimal collagen deposition.

These findings offer the first robust preclinical evidence supporting the traditional Ayurvedic use of H. spicatum in respiratory disease, advocating further mechanistic research and clinical translation.

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