Brazilian folk remedy bark extract eases inflammation and pain in mice
Dos Santos Lencina J, de Moraes Berenguel Losavaro PK, Dos Santos Lencina D, de Oliveira Venâncio GS, Fernandes MML, Felipe JL, Bonfá IS, Machado LL, de Oliveira Dembogurski DS, de Souza KFS, Paredes-Gamero EJ, Alves FM, Silva DB, Toffoli-Kadri MC, Silva-Filho SE.
Medicinal Plants
The traditional herbal remedies passed down through generations often turn out to have real, measurable biological effects once scientists finally test them properly.
In Brazil, people have long used the bark of the ipê-roxo tree to calm inflammation, but nobody had tested whether it actually works. Researchers made an extract from the bark and found it calmed down overactive immune cells, reduced swelling, and eased pain in mice without any signs of toxicity. It turns out the old remedy has real chemistry behind it.
Key Findings
The bark extract reduced neutrophil chemotaxis and phagocytosis in vitro and calmed mast cell degranulation, without showing cytotoxicity
In a carrageenan-induced edema model, the extract reduced swelling and hyperalgesia; in zymosan-induced peritonitis, it lowered leukocyte recruitment plus TNF, IL-6, and nitric oxide levels
In pain tests (formalin and acetic acid-induced writhing), the extract reduced nociceptive responses in the inflammatory phase without impairing locomotion
chevron_right Technical Summary
A bark extract from a Brazilian tree used in folk medicine to treat inflammation actually reduces swelling, immune cell overreaction, and pain in lab tests, backing up centuries of traditional use.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive properties of Handroanthus heptaphyllus (Vell.) Mattos hydroethanolic extract bark in mice.
Handroanthus heptaphyllus (Vell.) Mattos (Bignociaceae), popularly known in Brazil as "ipê-roxo" or "lapacho", is native to the Pantanal biome (Brazil). Its bark is traditionally used to treat infl...
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