Vol. 7, Issue 12, Part A (2025)

Gout is a form of metabolic inflammatory arthritis characterized by hyperuricemia and acute joint inflammation, which is primarily driven by xanthine oxidase enzyme responsible for uric acid production and inflammation-associated membrane damages. The present study was aimed to comparatively evaluate the in-vitro biochemical xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity and anti-inflammatory (membrane stabilizing) potential of ethanolic extracts of Drynaria quercifolia (L.)J.sm and Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb. rhizomes which is ethnobotanically used against rheumatism. XO inhibition was evaluated spectrophotometrically, while the anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using hypotonic and heat-induced erythrocyte membrane stabilization assays, with febuxostat and diclofenac used as standard drugs. Both extracts exhibited concentration-dependent XO inhibition. C. aeruginosa showed an IC₅₀ value of 4.2±0.4 µg/mL, which was comparable to febuxostat (3.5±0.5 µg/mL), whereas D. quercifolia exhibited a higher IC₅₀ value of 18.0±0.7 µg/mL, indicating moderate enzyme inhibitory activity. In the hypotonic solution-induced hemolysis assay, D. quercifolia and C. aeruginosa resulted as 64.3% and 67.0% of membrane stabilization, which is compared with 82.4% for diclofenac. In the heat-induced hemolysis activity, D. quercifolia exhibited an IC₅₀ of 132 µg/mL which shows stronger membrane protection whereas, C. aeruginosa has IC₅₀ of 207.0 µg/mL and diclofenac of 83.8 µg/mL. The findings demonstrates a complementary dual biochemical profile, wherein C. aeruginosa exhibits stronger xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity, while D. quercifolia shows relatively greater membrane stabilizing potential. The combined enzyme-level and membrane-level protection supports the preliminary in-vitro anti-gout potential of both the rhizomes ethanolic extracts. Further in-vivo and molecular studies are required to substantiate their therapeutic significance.