Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the latex containing triterpenes from Himatanthus sucuuba

Some triterpenes and iridoids were previously isolated from the stem bark o f Himatanthus sucuuba. The latex from Himatanthus sucuuba is used in popula r amazonian medicine as an anti-inflammatory remedy. Fractions of the latex were pharmacologically evaluated with a view to verify this popular use in the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and in the acetic acid-induced mouse constriction tests. The hexane fraction inhibited the edema formation by 3 5.9% at a dose of 200 mg/kg (p.o.) but no activity was observed at 100 mg/k g (p.o.). The triterpenes present in the hexane fraction were identified as lupeol acetate, alpha-amyrin and lupeol cinnamates. The fraction containin g only cinnamates inhibited the edema and the abdominal constrictions by 50 -40% and 57.9%, respectively, at 100 mg/kg (p.o.). Among all the fractions studied, the fraction containing only cinnamates showed the greatest anti-i nflammatory activity which suggests that these compounds were responsible f or the previously described activity of the crude extract.