Anti‐Inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities of Pycnanthus angolensis and Daniellia oliveri in Relation to Their Traditional Use in the Treatment of Dysmenorrhea

Dysmenorrhea is a painful condition that precedes or accompanies menstruation. It is a real problem for women of reproductive age and impacts their quality of life. The present study aims to assess the anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant properties of Pycnanthus angolensis and Daniellia oliveri, two plants traditionally used to treat dysmenorrhea. The anti‐inflammatory activity of aqueous extracts of stem barks of P. angolensis and root barks of D. oliveri was carried out on Wistar rats using the carrageenan‐induced paw edema method. The antioxidant activity was assessed in vitro using the 1,1‐Diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. The results showed that aqueous extracts of both plants (at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg) significantly reduced rat paw edema at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6‐h postcarrageenan injection. The maximum edema‐inhibiting activity was reached at the second hour with inhibition of 63.18% for the P. angolensis extract at 200 mg/kg and 58.82% for the D. oliveri extract at 200 mg/kg bw. For the antioxidant activity, the aqueous stem bark extract of P. angolensis , with an antiradical power (AP) of 2.15 μmol DPPH scavenged/mg extract, exhibited better anti‐free radical activity compared with that of the aqueous root bark extract of D. oliveri (AP = 0.16 μmol DPPH scavenged/mg extract). These results show that aqueous extracts of P. angolensis and D. oliveri have anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant properties.