The central analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of the methanolic extract of Carthamus oxycantha.
Nøgleord
Abstrakt
The plant extract and fractions of Carthamus oxycantha (Compositae) were assessed for analgesic and antiinflammatory activities. Acetic acid and formalin-induced nociception, hot plate and carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema tests were employed to evaluate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory potential of the plant extract. The intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of the methanolic extract (25-30 mg/kg), hexane (10-50 mg/kg, i.p.) and ethylacetate (50 and 100 mg/kg i.p.) fractions produced significant inhibition (P<0.01) of the acetic acid-induced writhing in mice and suppressed formalin-induced licking response of animals in both phases of the test. In the hot plate assay the plant extract (100 mg/kg i.p.) increased pain threshold of mice. Pre-treatment of animals with naloxone (5 mg/kg i.p.) abolished the analgesic effect of the C. oxycantha in formalin and hot plate tests. C. oxycantha (50-200 mg/kg i.p.) produced marked anti-inflammatory effect in carrageenan-induced rat paw edema assay comparable to diclofenac. These findings suggest that C. oxycantha possesses central analgesic and peripheral anti-inflammatory properties, with analgesic effects associated with the opioid system.