Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the root bark extract of Torricellia angulata Oliv. var.intermedia (Harms) Hu

Torricellia angulata is traditionally used for the treatment of fracture in China. In anti-inflammatory test, the ethanol extract of T.angulata exhibited the inhibitory effect on the oedema formation of the mice ear induced by croton oil as well as on the formation of the paw oedema in rats induced by carrageenin. In the analgesic test, the ethanol extract of T.angulata showed a significant reduction of the number of writhes in acetic acid-induced writhing response in mice. The extract also produced a dose-dependent analgesic effect in the hot-plate test in mice. T.angulata exhibits two distinct pharmacological properties: an anti-inflammatory property and an analgesic property. The results obtained account, at least in part for the traditional use of T.angulata to treat fracture.