Planta Med 2008; 74 - PA73
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1084071

A comparative study of the anti-inflammatory properties of Allanblankia floribunda and Kigelia africana fruits

GA Ayoola 1, GA Akpanika 1, MO Sofidiya 2, VO Osunkalu 3, HAB Coker 1, T Odugbemi 4
  • 1Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
  • 2Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
  • 3Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
  • 4Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

The present study aims to establish and compare the anti-inflammatory properties of the fruits of Allanblankia floribunda and Kigelia africana. The two fruits look similar, they are often mistaken for one another and are both traditionally used for anti-inflammatory purposes [1]. The methanolic extracts of the fruits (100–400mg/kg, p.o) inhibited carrageenan induced paw oedema in rats [2] in a dose dependent manner. However, A. floribunda was found to be more effective at all the doses used in this study. At 400mg/kg A. floribunda produced an inhibition of 76.9% compared to 63.3% recorded for K. africana and 64.3% for indomethacin (10mg/kg). A. floribunda was less active compared to K. africana in the inhibition of the neurogenic (first phase) but more active at the inflammatory phase (second phase) of the formalin-induced pain. Acetylsalicylic acid (10mg/kg) did not show significant activity in the inhibition of the neurogenic phase, but was more active than both A. floribunda and K. africana in the inhibition of the inflammatory phase of formalin-induce pain [2]. This study has provided a scientific basis for the traditional use of the fruits of A. floribunda and K. africana as anti-inflammatory agents. However, the fruit of A. floribunda appears to have a better anti-inflammatory activity compared to K. africana. LD25, LD50 and LD100 were determined for A. floribunda in Swiss albino mice as 8g/kg, 20g/kg and 25g/kg respectively, hence it can be considered relatively safe.

Acknowledgements: We thank Mrs Bashorun and the technical staff of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos for excellent technical support. We also thank Mr Opeyemi for helpful discussions.

References: 1. Odugbemi, T. (2006) Outlines and Pictures of Medicinal Plants from Nigeria. University of Lagos Press, Lagos, Nigeria.

2. Gupta, M. et al. (2006) BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 6:36–41