Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Ethanolic Extract of Piper vicosanum Leaves.

Nonclinical trials are important to validate the efficacy and safety of medicinal plants. Scientific toxicological studies with Piper vicosanum Yuncker have showed its safety; however, no studies have indicated the analgesic or antiarthritic potential of the ethanolic extract of P. vicosanum leaves (EEPV). The objective of the present work was to evaluate the antiarthritic and antinociceptive effects of EEPV in experimental mouse models. The oral administration of EEPV (100, 300, and 700 mg/kg) and dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) were performed in carrageenan-induced pleurisy, in formalin and acetic-acid-induced nociception, and in zymosan-induced articular inflammation models in Swiss mice. The EEPV (300 mg/kg) was tested in zymosan-articular inflammation, the complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) inflammatory model, and in in situ intravitreal microscopy analysis of rolling and adhesion events of leukocytes in the mesenteric microcirculation in mice. EEPV significantly inhibited: (i) nociceptive response at phase 1 and 2, and also in the cold response in the formalin model; (ii) abdominal contortion induced by acetic acid; (iii) mechanical hyperalgesia after 4 and 6 h, knee edema after 6 h, and leukocyte migration in articular inflammation induced by zymosan. All doses of EEPV reduced the leukocyte migration to the inflamed pleural cavity and knee edema 4 h after the zymosan knee injection. The treatment with the EEPV significantly inhibited the CFA-induced edema, mechanical and cold hyperalgesia, and NAG and MPO. The EEPV also significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced leukocyte rolling and adhesion. The present study revealed, for the first time, the antiarthritic and antinociceptive effects of the EEPV.

Analgesic and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Caryocar brasiliense.

BACKGROUND: Caryocar brasiliense, popularly known as pequi, is widely distributed in the Amazon rainforest and Brazilian savannah. The fruit obtained from pequi is used in cooking and has folk use as an anti-inflammatory and for the treatment of respiratory disease. Until now, these two properties had not been scientifically demonstrated for Pequi oil in a carrageenan model. OBJECTIVE: Our group determined the composition and safe use of Pequi oil from the Savannah of Campo Grande, and the anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities of this pequi oil were investigated in vivo models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Doses of 300, 700, and 1000 mg/kg of Pequi oil were administered orally (p.o.) to Swiss male mice, and three parameters of inflammation (mechanical hyperalgesia, cold, hyperalgesia, and oedema) were analyzed in a carrageenan model to induce an inflammatory paw state. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The effects of Pequi oil were also carrageenan in pleurisy model, formalin, and acetic acid induced nociception. Oral administration of 1,000 mg/kg orally Pequi oil (p.o.) inhibited (*P<0.05), the migration of total leukocytes, but not alter plasma extravasation, in the pleurisy model when compared to control groups. The paw edema was inhibited with doses of 700 (P <0.05) and 1,000 mg (P<0.001) of pequi oil after 1, 2, and 4 hours after carrageenan. Pequi oil (1,000 mg/kg) also blocked the mechanical hyperalgesy and reduced cold allodynia induced by carrageenan in paw (P <0.05). Pequi oil treatment (1,000 mg/kg) almost blocked (P < 0.001) all parameters of nociception observed in formalin and acid acetic test. CONCLUSION: This is the first time that the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of Pequi oil have been shown.

Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Properties of the Extract, Tiliroside, and Patuletin 3-O-ß-D-Glucopyranoside from Pfaffia townsendii (Amaranthaceae).

Brazilian ginseng, including Pfaffia townsendii, is used in popular medicine as a natural anti-inflammatory, tonic, analgesic, and antidiabetic agent. In this study, we investigated the chemical composition and evaluated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the P. townsendii ethanolic extract as well as the major isolated glycoside flavonoids tiliroside and patuletin 3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside. Chromatographic techniques and spectroscopic analysis were used for the isolation and identification of the major compounds. The antioxidant potential was determined through DPPH and ORAC-FL assays. The total phenolic content was measured using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. The anti-inflammatory activity was determined based on a model of paw edema and carrageenan- (Cg-) induced pleurisy. We identified three phenolic acids, one carboxylic acid and two flavonoids, patuletin 3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside, and tiliroside. The ethanol crude extracts, partitions and isolated flavonoids (4581 µmol of Trolox equivalents/g of extract in ORAC and a SC50 of approximately 31.9 µg/mL in the DPPH assay) demonstrated antioxidant activity, and the ethanolic extract as well as isolated flavonoids inhibited paw edema induced by Cg and leukocyte migration in the Cg-induced pleurisy model. The extract, tiliroside, and patuletin 3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside obtained from P. townsendii have therapeutic potential against oxidative stress-related and inflammatory disorders.