Clinical Phytoscience (Feb 2018)
An in vivo study regarding analgesic and anxiolytic activity of methanolic extract of Typha elephantina Roxb
Abstract
Abstract Background Typha elephantina Roxb. is a widely scattered grass like medicinal plant in Bangladesh and thus demands biological investigations to discover its therapeutic potentiality. The aim of our present study was to assess analgesic and anxiolytic properties of methanolic extract of Typha elephantina Roxb. Methods For evaluating analgesic activity, the methanolic extract was subjected to intraperitoneally (i.p.) administered acetic acid-induced writhing test & subcutaneously administered (s.c.) formalin-induced hind paw licking test in Swiss-albino mice. The anxiolytic activity was conducted by using elevated plus maze (EPM) and hole board models. Results For both methods of analgesic test experimental plant extract was found to have significant (p < 0.001) analgesia at the dose of 200 mg/kg & 400 mg/kg body weight in mice when compared to control, where acetyl salicylic acid (100 mg/kg body weight) was used as standard drug. The percentages of inhibition found in case of acetic acid-induced writhing test were 26.27%, 50.45% and 20.29% respectively for acetyl salicylic acid (100 mg/kg), 200 mg/kg extract dose and 400 mg/kg extract dose. On the other hand, during formalin-induced hind paw licking test, the percentages of inhibition also increased when the extract dose increases from 200 mg/kg to 400 mg/kg by 53.95% to 61.79% at early phase and 71.62% to 78.8% at late phase respectively while acetyl salicylic acid (100 mg/kg), responsible for 25.58% and 38.74% of inhibition at both phase sequentially. Again, the crude extract significantly (p < 0.01; p < 0.001) raised the time spent in the open arm (149.2 ± 27.63** sec) & the number of head-dips (50.00 ± 4.66***) at the dose 400 mg/kg body weight in case anxiolytic test, while reference drug diazepam (1 mg/kg body weight) also exhibited significant (p < 0.01) result in case of time spent in open arm (107.0 ± 12** sec) but not for head dipping (14.83 ± 1.6). Conclusion Findings of the present study assure that Typha elephantina Roxb. may be effective for the treatment of pain and anxiety with the demands of further investigations to isolate the active compound(s).
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