Phytotherapeutic profile of Nigerian herbs. I: Anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic agents.

From a survey of anti-arthritic remedies used in Igbo tribal ethnomedicine, three plants--Lonchocarpus cyanescens, Costus afar and Terminalia ivorensis--were selected for closer study. Twenty-five volunteers were monitored while receiving treatment from two reputable herbalists, and the result of the clinical investigation prompted the pharmacological and phytochemical studies on the herbs. Differential solvent extracts of the herbs reduced carragenin-induced oedema of the rat paw, checked diarrhoea due to arachidonic acid and castor oil, and ameliorated all signs associated with adjuvant-induced polyarthritis in rats. The constituent-activity relationship of the drugs and their probable mode of action are briefly discussed.