RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Piper sarmentosum Roxb. (Cha Phul) is a plant in the Piperaceae family which the whole plant is used as an expectorant and the leaf as a carminative. Many extracts from the plants in this family show anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities in various animal models. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive and antipyretic effects of the ethanol extract from P. sarmentosum root. MATERIAL AND METHOD: In vivo study. RESULTS: P. sarmentosum extract significantly inhibited ethyl phenylpropiolate-induced ear edema as well as carrageenan-induced hind paw edema in rats. The extract reduced transudative and granuloma weights of the chronic inflammatory model using the cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation in rats. The extract exerted a pronounced inhibitory activity on the early phase and late phase of the formalin test in mice. In addition, the extract elicited an antipyretic activity on yeast-induced hyperthermia in rats. CONCLUSION: P. sarmentosum extract possessed anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive and antipyretic activities.