title: Screening of analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Citrullus colocynthis from southern Tunisia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inflammations and immune-related diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis are growing global concerns. Most of the drugs from plants which have become important in modern medicine had a folklore origin and are traditional in systems of medicine. Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. (cucurbitaceae), endemic in Southern Tunisia, is used in folk medicine to treat many inflammation diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the acute toxicity of different parts of Citrullus colocynthis and then to screen the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of aqueous extracts from roots and stems of the plant and from fruits and seeds at different maturation stages.
  
  
  METHODS
  After identification and acute toxicity assay Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. aqueous extracts were screened for analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities using, respectively, the acetic acid writhing test in mice and the carrageenan-induced paw edema assay in rats.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All extracts displayed analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities at different doses without inducing acute toxicity. Topic results were obtained with immature fruits followed by seeds. The stem and root extracts were shown to possess the less significant inhibitory activity against analgesic and anti-inflammatory models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on this study, we confirmed that Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. is a potentially useful drug suitable for further evaluation for rheumatoid arthritis, and its folk medicinal use as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents is validated.
authors: Laboratoire des Maladies Transmissibles et Substances Biologiquement Actives, Faculté de Pharmacie, Monastir, Rue AVICENNE, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia.
authors: Belsem
authors: B
authors: Marzouk
authors: Zohra
authors: Z
authors: Marzouk
authors: Ehsen
authors: E
authors: Haloui
authors: Nadia
authors: N
authors: Fenina
authors: Abderrahman
authors: A
authors: Bouraoui
authors: Mahjoub
authors: M
authors: Aouni
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D029773:Citrullus / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts