Journal of Ethnopharmacology 72 (2000) 273 – 278 Short communication Anti-inflammatory, analgesic activity and acute toxicity of Sida cordifolia L. (Malva-branca) E.M. Franzotti, C.V.F. Santos, H.M.S.L. Rodrigues, R.H.V. Moura ˜o, M.R. Andrade, A.R. Antoniolli * Laborato ´rio de Farmacologia /Bioquimica, Departamento de Fisiologia, CCBS, Uniersidade Federal de Sergipe, 49100 -000 Sa ˜o Cristoa ˜o, Sergipe, Brazil Received 11 June 1999; received in revised form 21 February 2000; accepted 28 February 2000 Abstract Sida cordifolia L. (Malvaceae) is used in folk medicine for the treatment of inflammation of the oral mucosa, blenorrhea, asthmatic bronchitis and nasal congestion. The anti-inflammatory, analgesic effects and acute toxicity of an aqueous extract of S. cordifolia were evaluated in animal models. The extract was prepared using leaves collected before the flowering period. The aqueous extract (AE) showed a significant inhibition of carrageenin-induced rat paw edema at a dose of 400 mg/kg administered orally, but did not block the edema induced by arachidonic acid. The AE also increased the latency period for mice in the hot plate test, and inhibited the number of writhes produced by acetic acid at the oral dose of 400 mg/kg. The aqueous extract of S. cordifolia showed low acute toxicity in mice. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Sida cordifolia ; Malvaceae; Anti-inflammatory; Analgesia www.elsevier.com/locate/jethpharm 1. Introduction In Brazil, Sida cordifolia L. (Malvaceae) is pop- ularly known as malva-branca (white mallow) or malva-branca-sedosa (silky white mallow). It is found in several parts of the country where it grows as a bush of up to 2 m in height. The plant has light green, cordiform, serrated, oval-elon- gated leaves, and pedunculated flowers arranged in axillary or terminal racemes. The plant is used in folk medicine for the treatment of stomatitis, blenorrhea, asthmatic bronchitis, and nasal con- gestion (Balbach, 1978). Phytochemical analysis of the leaves of S. cordifolia have mainly demonstrated the presence of sympathomimetic amines, ephedrine and pseu- doephedrine (a potent vasoconstrictor), vaso- cinone (Ghosal et al., 1975), and vasicine as major alkaloids (Gunatilaka et al., 1980). The objective * Corresponding author. E-mail address: aroberto@ufs.br (A.R. Antoniolli). 0378-8741/00/$ - see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. PII:S0378-8741(00)00205-1