Antiinflammatory activity of a Ghanaian antiarthritic herbal preparation: I.

A boiling water extract from a powdered sample containing Alstonia boonei root bark (90%) Rauvolfia vomitoria root bark (5%) and Elaeis guineensis nut without pericarp (5%) was tested intraperitoneally for its antiinflammatory activity by measuring rat hindpaw edema induced by the subplantar injection of carrageenin in the presence or absence of arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid increased swelling during the early phase of carrageenin edema. The extract suppressed the late phase of carrageenin edema and both phases in the presence of arachidonic acid. These preliminary results are consistent with a herbal preparation known to be used in the management of rheumatoid arthritis.