Table 4.
Plants used in Cameroon as anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents, with evidence of their activities.
| Family | Speciesa | Traditional treatment | Plant part used | Bioactive (or potentially active) compoundsb | Screened activityc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acanthaceae | Acanthus montanus (Nees) T. Anderson (1652/SRF61CAM) | Cough, hypertension, skin infection, boil, witches, dysmenorrhoea, pain, epilepsy, miscarriages, heart troubles, rheumatic pain, syphilis (Burkill, 1985; Adjanohoun et al., 1996; Babu et al., 2001; Noumi and Fozi, 2003; Igoli et al., 2005; Nana et al., 2008) | Leaves | Not identified | Leave extract showed analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties and the proposed mechanism was the inhibition of the prostaglandins pathway at 200 mg/kg in rats. Also, this extract at 200 mg/kg body weight in rats reduced carrageenan-induced edema, and formalin-induced pain (Asongalem et al., 2004). |
| Anacardiaceae | Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich.) Hochst (7770/HNC) | Boils and blood circulation problems, rheumatism, infectious diseases, inflammation (Mojeremane and Tshwenyane, 2004; Fotio et al., 2009) | Bark | Not identified | Bark extract inhibited albumin-induced paw edema (Ojewole, 2004), Formalin- or Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-carrageenan-, histamine, or serotonin-induced paw edema (Fotio et al., 2009) in rats |
| Caesalpiniaceae | Erythrophleum suaveolens, Guillemin & Perrottet (HN001AD) | Anti-poison, dermatitis, infectious disease, convulsion, inflammation due to snake bite, cardiac problems, headaches, migraines edema, rheumatism, asthma (Dalziel, 1937; Bouquet, 1969; Leiderer, 1982; Neuwinger, 1998) | Bark | Not identified | Extract from the bark and fractions at 19.2 μg/ml showed inhibition of carrageenin-induced paw edema in rats; Hexane fraction inhibited the 5-lipoxygenase activity (Dongmo et al., 2001) |
| Combretaceae | Combretum molle R.Br. ex G.Don (6518/SRF/CAM) | Fever, abdominal pains, convulsion, worm infections, AIDS (Bessong et al., 2004) | Bark | β-d-glucopyranosyl 2α,3 β,6β-trihydroxy-23-galloylolean-12-en-28-oate (18); combregenin (19); arjungenin (20), arjunglucoside I, combreglucoside (Ponou et al., 2008) | Bark extract, compounds 18–20 showed good activity against carrageenan-induced paw edema in rat (Ponou et al., 2008) |
| Crassulaceae | Kalanchoe crenata Andr. (50103/YA/HNC) | Earache, smallpox, headache, inflammation, pain, asthma, palpitation, convulsion, general debility (Dimo et al., 2006) | Not specified | Not identified | n-Butanol fraction inhibited carrageenani-, histamine-, serotonin-, and formalin-induced paw edema in rats (Dimo et al., 2006) |
| Euphorbiaceae | Bridelia scleroneura (42088/HNC) | Abdominal pain, contortion, arthritis, inflammation (Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk, 1962; Théophile et al., 2006) | Bark, roots | Not identified | Crude bark extract showed peripheral and central analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity against acute inflammation processes in rats (Théophile et al., 2006) |
| Euphorbiaceae | Uapaca guineensis (41501/HNC) | Fever, inflammation, pain, skin diseases, and sexual dysfunction (Vivien and Faure, 1996) | Not specified | Not identified | Bark crude extract showed analgesic activity, and inhibited carrageenan-induced inflammation in rats (Nkeh-Chungag et al., 2009) |
| Guttiferae | Allanblackia monticola Staner L.C. (61168/HNC) | Amoebic dysentery, diarrhea, indigestion, pulmonary infections, skin diseases, headache, inflammation, and generalized pain (Raponda-Waker and Sillans, 1961) | Bark | Betulinic acid, lupeol, and amangostin (Nguemfo et al., 2009) | Crude extract from the bark, lupeol, betulinic acid, and a-mangostin inhibited paw carrageenan-induced edema rat (Nguemfo et al., 2007, 2009) |
| Leguminosae | Erythrina addisoniae Hutchinson & Dalziel (41617/HNC) | Dysentery, asthma, venereal diseases, boils, and leprosy (Talla et al., 2003) | Bark | Warangalone (56) (Talla et al., 2003) | Bark extract and compound 56 showed an anti-inflammatory on the PLA2-induced paw edema and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate-induced ear edema in mice (Talla et al., 2003) |
| Erythrina mildbraedii Harms (50452/HNC) | Dysentery, stomach pains, venereal diseases, asthma, female sterility, ulcers, boils and various types of inflammations (Oliver-Bever, 1986) | Bark, roots | Erycristagallin (57) (Njamen et al., 2003) | Root bark extract inhibited the carrageenan-induced mouse paw whilst compound 57 inhibited the PLA2-induced mouse paw edema and mouse ear edema induced by 2-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (Njamen et al., 2003) | |
| Erythrina sigmoidea Hua | Female infertility, stomach pain, and gonorrhea (Giner-Larza et al., 2001) | Bark | Sigmoidin A (51) and B (52) (Njamen et al., 2004) | Compound 51 inhibited PLA2-induced paw edema in mice, while both compounds 51 and 52 were found to be effective 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate-induced ear edema (Njamen et al., 2004) | |
| Millettia versicolor Welw. (32315/HNC) | Intestine parasitosis, rheumatism, pain, infertility (Adjanohoun et al., 1988; Bouquet, 1969) | Not specified | 2-acetyl-7-methoxynaphthol2,3-bfuran-4,9-quinone (29) (Fotsing et al., 2003) | CH2Cl2 fraction from methanol crude bark extract inhibited carrageenan-induced paw edema and TPA-induced acute ear edema in mouse as well as compound 29 (Fotsing et al., 2003) | |
| Millettia griffoniana Baill. (32315/SRF/HNC) | Boils, insects bits, inflammatory affections like pneumonia, and asthma, infertility, amenorrhea, menopausal disorders (Sandberg and Cronlund, 1977) | Bark, roots | griffonianone D (55) (Yankep et al., 2003) | Extract of the root bark and compound 55 showed anti-inflammatory effects via inhibition of PLA2-induced mouse paw edema and TPA-induced acute mouse ear edema (Yankep et al., 2003) | |
| Solanaceae | Solanum torvum Swartz. (21103/HNC) | Fever, wounds, tooth decay, haemostatic properties, pain, anti-inflammation (Henty, 1973; Ndebia et al., 2007) | Leaves | Not identified | Crude extract from the leaves inhibits both acetic acid- and pressure-induced pain at 300 mg/kg body weight of rats, and also anti-inflammatory activity on carrageenan-induced paw edema (Ndebia et al., 2007 |
aHNC or SRFK: Cameroon National herbarium code.
bCompounds characterized for the first time in Cameroonian medicinal plant are underlined.
cScreened activity: TPA (2-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate); PLA2 (phospholipase A2).