Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic Effects of an Aqueous Extract of Lannea acida Stem Bark

Abstract

Background: Different parts of Lannea acida A. Rich (fam: Anarcadiaceae) are used traditionally to treat various ailments including inflammation, facial pain, schistosomiasis, haemorrhoids and toothache. Objective: This study was carried out to investigate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of an aqueous extract of the stem bark of Lannea acida. Methodology: Rats were given sub-plantar injection of prostaglandin E2 to induce oedema, which was measured using calipers over 2½ hours at 30 min interval. In the acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing test, mice were given intraperitoneal injection of acetic acid and writhing movements were recorded. Oedema test was run for both prophylactic and curative protocols. In both paw oedema and writhing test models, inhibitory effects of the plant extract were compared

Lannea Acida: A Review of Its Medicinal Uses and Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Properties

“…In the prophylactic protocol, at 30 mg/kg, the percentage total inhibitory effects of the extract were 68.4%, while in the curative protocol, the percentage maximal inhibitory effects of the extract at 300 mg/kg were 67.1%. The extracts inhibited prostaglandin E2-induced paw edema and acetic acid-induced writhing movements in animal models and, therefore, are potential remedies for inflammation and pain [64], corroborating the traditional usage of the species against rheumatism [3,22,24], swellings [3,22,29], ulcers [27], and wounds [3,22,23].…”

“…Flavonoids are characterized by several pharmacological properties, for example, irisolidone 4 is known to possess anti-Helicobacter pylori activities [53], inhibition of prostaglandin E2 production [54], hepatoprotective activities [55,56], cancer chemopreventive activities [57], estrogenic activities [58], inhibitory effect of JC1 virus gene expression [59], anti-inflammatory activities [60,61], and protective properties against hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) [62]. Other phytochemical compounds identified from the bark and stem bark of L. acida include alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, phenols, saponins, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids [37,41,[63][64][65]. Leung et al [66] analyzed the calcium, carbohydrates, energy, fat, fiber, phosphorous, and protein content of L. acida leaves as a means of estimating the quality of leaves as vegetable sources ( Table 2).…”

“…The pharmacological activities exhibited by L. acida extracts include the following: Anthelmintic [25], antibacterial [24,67], antidiarrheal [37], anti-inflammatory [64], antimycobacterial [34], antioxidant [65,67], estrogenic [41], fertility [68], hyaluronidase [48,69], phospholipase A 2 [48,69], proteolytic [48,69], and vibriocidal [70] activities.…”

“…Owusu and Ofori-Amoah [64] evaluated anti-inflammatory activities of aqueous stem bark extract of L. acida using paw edema and writhing test assays in male Sprague Dawley rats. The extract at 30-300 mg/kg reduced prostaglandin E2-induced paw edema in both prophylactic and curative protocols.…”

Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Ghanaian Medicinal Plants

“…The aqueous stem bark extract was evaluated for anti-inflammatory effect and caused a significant dose-dependent reduction of PGE 2 -induced rat paw oedema with maximal oedema inhibition of 67.1%. The stem bark extract also inhibited writhing movement in the acetic acid-induced writhing test in mice models [66].…”