Suppressive Effects of Propolis in Rat Adjuvant Arthritis

The effects of ethanolic extract (EEP) of propolis on chronic inflammation were evaluated using rat adjuvant arthritis. In the chronic inflammatory animal model, the arthritis index was suppressed by EEP treatments (50 mg/kg/day and 100 gm/kg/day, p.o.). Moreover, physical weakness, induced by the chronic disease state, was dose-dependently improved in the EEP-treated groups. It s analgesic effect, assessed using the tail-flick test, was comparable to prednisolone (2.5 mg/kg/day, p.o.) and acetyl salicylic acid (100 mg/kg/day, p.o.). In carrageenan rat hind paw edema, which was conducted to test the effects of subfractions of EEP, the petroleum ether sub-fraction (100 mg/kg, p.o.) showed an inhibitor effect on the paw edema whereas EEP (200 mg/kg, p.o.) showed a significant anti-inflammatory effect at 3 and 4 hrs after carrageenan injection. From these results, we conclude that the ethanolic extract of propolis had a profound anti-inflammatory effects on both chronic and acute inflammations.