The profound modification of lifestyle and food habits has led to an important increase in the prevalence of gout. Unfortunately, there are current unmet needs for the treatment of this disease, prompting the search for new alternatives. Paullinia pinnata is a plant used to treat various diseases including arthritis. The present work aimed to investigate the antigouty activities of the aqueous (AEPP) and methanolic (MEPP) extracts of P. pinnata as well as their in vivo antioxidant properties. The gouty arthritis was induced by injecting 50 μl of monosodium urate (MSU, 100 mg/ml) in the left hind ankle of rats. P. pinnata extracts were administered orally at the doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg/day for 6 days, starting 24 h after MSU injection. Allopurinol 5 mg/kg/day was used as reference drug. Inflammation and hyperalgesia were daily monitored from 24 hours after treatment initiation and for the 6 consecutive days. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) quantification was done in collected synovial fluid. Nitrite oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were evaluated in the spinal cord and the brain. The serum content of SOD was additionally quantified. AEPP and MEPP significantly (p < 0.001) reduce MSU-induced inflammation (22.41% to 93.65%) and hyperalgesia (33.33% to 64.44%) in both ankle and paw. AEPP and MEPP significantly (p < 0.001) reduce synovial MPO production with the percentage ranging from 76.30% to 85.19%. AEPP and MEPP significantly (p < 0.001) reduce serum, spinal, left and right hemispheres NO, and MDA and increase the SOD activity (p < 0.001). P. pinnata leaf extracts possess potent curative effects against MSU-induced gouty arthritis that combines analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. These findings support the use of P. pinnata leaves extracts in the treatment of gouty arthritis and further present the plant as a potent source of efficient antigouty medicine.

Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death among children in low and low-middle income countries and the management of this pathology is still a problem in these regions. The water/ethanol extract of the pods of Cola anomala (KEO) has been shown to possess antimicrobial and antidiarrheal effects in Shigella flexneri-induced diarrhea, but whether KEO is active on the toxemic part of this diarrhea is unknown. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of KEO on the intestinal secretion and inflammation induced by intraperitoneal administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). KEO obtained by maceration in water/ethanol (1:1) was administered orally (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg of body weight) against LPS-induced diarrhea in mice. The mass of feces, the intestinal nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin (PGE2) contents as well as myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were assessed. KEO was also tested on LPS-induced enteropooling in rats. In this experiment, the intestinal fluid and its electrolytes (Na+, K+ and Cl-) contents were determined as well as NO, PGE2, TNF-α and IL-1β levels in the small intestine homogenate. Indomethacin (5 mg/kg) was used as reference drug. KEO significantly (p < 0.001) reduced stools excretion, NO content and MPO activity in intestine but did not affect PGE2 in LPS-induced diarrhea. On the enteropooling model, KEO showed no effect on the intestinal fluid and electrolyte excretion, PGE2, TNF-α and IL-1β contents, but significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the NO production. This study suggests that KEO does not have antisecretory effect, but has anti inflammatory activities. It can be concluded that the anti-toxemic effect of KEO contributes less to its antidiarrheal activity in infectious diarrhea.

Pain treatment is one of the most challenging situations of the modern medicine. To overcome the actual limitations, new strategies should be developed and phytotherapy represents a promising alternative. Boerhavia coccinea is a medicinal plant used for the treatment of pain. The present work was undertaken to evaluate the antinociceptive effects of crude aqueous extract of the leaves of Boerhavia coccinea (AE) on acute pain and examine its mechanism of action. The analgesic effect of AE was evaluated at doses 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg using the formalin-induced nociception in mice. The specific analgesic effect of AE was verified by testing its effect of AE on the sleep induced by diazepam. The anti-inflammatory effects of AE were also tested in vivo (100 and 200 mg/kg) on CFA-induced inflammation and in vitro