The acute stage of arthritis is characterized by the signs of hyperalgesia, lack of mobility and pause in body weight gain (data not shown). During the acute period, hind paw and fore paw joint diameters increased. In the formaldehyde induced arthritis inflammation test, MEBL extracts showed significant inhibition of the edema formation during experimental period of 10 days. In the later acute stages of the disease (day 12 onwards) rats with adjuvant arthritis