title: The central analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of the methanolic extract of Carthamus oxycantha.
abstract: 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.
authors: Pharmacology Section, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. iabukhari@ksu.edu.sa
authors: I A
authors: IA
authors: Bukhari
mesh_terms: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D031178:Carthamus / Q000737:chemistry*; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008297:Male; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000187:drug effects*; D010154:Pakistan; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents; D000432:Methanol