The antiinflammatory effect in rats of Chieh-pu-warn, a traditional chinese herbal preparation

Chieh-pu-warn (CPW), or Swift-footed pill, is a traditional Chinese herbal preparation for the treatment of weakness, paralysis, or arthritis. Toxicity studies in mice showed that CPW at the maximal tested dosage (25 g/kg, p.o.) exhibited no acute toxicity. Subacute treatment of CPW with recommended daily dose (2.5 g/kg, p.o. daily for 15 days) showed that the body weight and the water content of lung, heart, kidney, and liver in mice were not changed significantly. The antiinflammatory effect of CPW was evaluated with carrageenin- and Freund's complete adjuvant-induced edematous responses in the hind paws of rats. It was found that a single dose (2.5 g/kg, p.o.) of CPW had no significant antiinflammatory effect, but consecutive pretreatment with the same dose for three days significantly inhibited the carrageenin-induced acute inflammation and Freund's complete adjuvant-induced subacute inflammation in rats. The present results suggest that CPW has antiinflammatory activities with low toxicities.