Emblica officinalis Gaertn, a tree growing in subtropical and tropical parts of China, India, Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula, has been used for anti-inflammatory and antipyretic treatments of rural populations in these areas. In the present study, we examined the effects of Emblica officinalis extracts on carrageenan- and dextran-induced rat hind paw oedema. Anti-inflammatory activity was found in the water fraction of methanol extract of the plant leaves. The effects of the same fraction were tested on the synthesis of mediators of inflammation such as leukotriene B4 (LTB4), platelet-activating factor (PAF) and thromboxane B2 (TXB2), and on LTB4- and N-formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (FMLP)-induced migration of human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) in-vitro. The water fraction of the methanol extract inhibited migration of human PMNs in relatively low concentrations. It did not inhibit LTB4 or PAF synthesis in human PMNs or TXB2 synthesis in human platelets during clotting, suggesting that the mechanism of the anti-inflammatory action found in the rat paw model does not involve inhibition of the synthesis of the measured lipid mediators.