The article emphasizes the anti-inflammatory effects of herbal extracts on different experimental models that are repeatedly used to test the in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of herbal components. Edema, granuloma and arthritis models are used to test the anti-inflammatory activity of plant extracts whereas formalin or acetic acid-induced writhing test and hot plate methods are the most repeatedly used to evaluate anti-nociceptive potentials of the herbal extracts. Although adjuvant-induced and collagen-induced arthritis models are also quite efficient, they have been used seldom to evaluate anti-inflammatory tendencies of the herbs. Here, we suggest a double positive reference model using both steroid and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs at the same time, instead of using only one of them either.

The journey of tocotrienol is started when the Vitamin E was first discovered as the fertility factor. Later in the research studies vitamin E was found to be consisting of eight isomers which can be divided into two separate groups known as tocopherols and tocotrienols. The isomers share similarity in structure but differ at much levels based upon their functional or biological properties. Initially tocopherols were investigated much due to their powerful antioxidant properties. However, the other four isomers of tocotrienols were found to be consisting of anticancer properties at varying degree in vitro and in vivo. The mechanisms mediated by tocotrienols such as NFkB pathway, apoptosis, and effect on DNA polymerases are totally different to those of tocopherols.