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Abstract
The analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of an ethanolic extract of Moringa concanensis tender pod-like fruits in experimental
animals were evaluated. The ethanolic extract of M. concanensis at the dose levels of 200 and 400 mg/kg, was administered orally,
once daily for 3 days for evaluation of the analgesic (analgesy-meter-induced pain, acetic acid-induced writhing and reaction time
in the hot plate test) and anti-inflammatory (carrageenan-induced paw edema) effects. The activities of lysosomal enzymes and
glycoproteins were investigated in fundic stomach and liver homogenate of rats with adjuvantinduced arthritis. A significant
analgesic activity of M. concanensis was observed in mice; 22.53 % and 51.47 % (P<0.05 and P<0.001) protection against mechanical
pain, 22.73 % and 51.63 % (P<0.05), protection against acetic acid-induced writhing and 62.20 % and 125.59 % (P<0.05 and P<0.01)
protection against thermal-induced pain. Aspirin and pentazocine potentiated the analgesic effect of M. Concanensis. However, M.
concanensis caused a significant (P<0.05 and P<0.001) and dose dependent inhibition of paw swelling caused by the carrageenan after
3 hr equivalent to 26.28 % and 44.23 % protection. Under the same experimental conditions, nimuslide (50 mg/kg; p.o.) potentiates
the anti-inflammatory activity of M. concanensis. Oral administration of M. concanensis showed a tendency to reduce the elevated
levels of the lysosomal enzymes (acid phosphatase and N-acetyl glucosaminidase) significantly and they reverted to near normal
values, which may be due to stabilization of the lysosomal membrane. The glycoprotein (total hexose and sialic acid) contents were
increased following treatment of M. concanensis in liver and stomach homogenate of rats with adjuvantinduced arthritis. Our
results show that Moringa concanensis possess significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity.
Introduction
Accepted: 2008-04-21
95
Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Moringa concanensis tender fruits / Asian Journal of
Traditional Medicines, 2008, 3 ( 3 )
Preparation of extracts
The fresh fruits of M. concanensis were washed
with running tap water and shade dried. The dried
materials were powdered and passed through a
100-mesh sieve. The coarsely powdered material
was extracted three times with ethanol (80 % v/v) and
filtered. The filtrate was concentrated at 402 C on a
rotary evaporator (Buchi, USA) and then freeze-dried
(Freezone 4.5, Labconco, USA) at high vacuum
(133 10-3 mBar) and low temperature 40 C2 C to
obtain a dry residue (yield 3.4 %, w/w).
Plant material
The tender pod-like fruits of the cultivated variety
of M. concanensis were collected in the month of
February and the herbarium sheet was identified,
authenticated taxonomically and confirmed by Dr.
Kaushal Kumar, Scientist, Ethnobotany and Taxonomy,
National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, India.
A voucher specimen (NAB 360242) of the collected
sample was deposited in the departmental museum for
future reference.
Animals
Male Sprague-Dawley rats (150-175 g) and albino
mice (25-30 g) were obtained from the animal colony
of the National Laboratory Animal Centre, Lucknow,
India. They were randomly distributed into groups
and housed in cages (6 per cage) and maintained under
standard conditions at 262 C and relative humidity
44 %-56 % and 10 h light: 14 h dark cycles each day
for one week before and during the experiments.
Drug treatment
The ethanolic extract of M. concanensis
(suspended in 1 % carboxy methyl cellulose) at doses
of 200 and 400 mg/kg body wt. was administered
once daily for three consecutive days. Nimusilide
(Cipla, India) at a dose of 50 mg/kg, p.o. was used as
96
Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Moringa concanensis tender fruits / Asian Journal of
Traditional Medicines, 2008, 3 ( 3 )
97
Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Moringa concanensis tender fruits / Asian Journal of
Traditional Medicines, 2008, 3 ( 3 )
Statistical analysis
All the data are presented as mean S.E.M and
one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and NewmanKeuls Multiple Comparision Test were applied for
determining the statistical significance between
different groups.
AU
Rf
Fig. 1. HPTLC fingerprint profile of Moringa concanensis extract scan at wavelength 366 nm.
98
Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Moringa concanensis tender fruits / Asian Journal of
Traditional Medicines, 2008, 3 ( 3 )
Dose (mg/kg)
Control
After administration
84.62 4.25
85.71 3.82
M. concanensis
200
85.63 3.95
105.02 4.52 a
M. concanensis
400
85.90 4.10
129.83 5.33 b
Aspirin
25
84.32 3.91
125.52 6.09 b
M. concanensis + Aspirin
200 + 25
85.93 3.89
146.64 6.73 b, z, #
M. concanensis + Aspirin
400 + 25
83.81 4.13
152.11 7.31 b, y, #
Dose (mg/kg)
Number of writhing
% Inhibition
22.35 4.61
M. concanensis
200
17.27 3.32
22.73
M. concanensis
400
10.81 2.20 a
51.63
Aspirin
25
9.56 1.12
57.23
M. concanensis + Aspirin
200 + 25
6.75 1.40
b, z
69.80
M. concanensis + Aspirin
400 + 25
4.07 0.91 c
Control
81.79
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Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Moringa concanensis tender fruits / Asian Journal of
Traditional Medicines, 2008, 3 ( 3 )
Table 3. Effect of M. concanensis extract on the hot plate reaction time in mice*
Treatment
Dose (mg/kg)
Initial
After 30 min
5.27 1.12
5.08 1.09
M. concanensis
200
5.35 1.41
8.24 1.57 a
M. concanensis
400
5.91 1.06
11.46 1.46 b
Pentazocine
10
5.58 1.28
16.56 1.08 c
M. concanensis + Pentazocine
200 + 10
5.25 1.09
19.75 1.92 c, z
M. concanensis + Pentazocine
400 + 10
5.34 1.14
21.54 2.01 c, z
Control
100
Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Moringa concanensis tender fruits / Asian Journal of
Traditional Medicines, 2008, 3 ( 3 )
1.56 0.25
M. concanensis
200
1.15 0.06 a
26.28
M. concanensis
400
0.87 0.04 b
44.23
Nimusilide
50
0.81 0.02
48.08
M. concanensis + Nimusilide
200 + 50
0.73 0.03
53.21
M. concanensis + Nimusilide
400 + 50
0.71 0.03 b
54.49
Treatment
Control
*
a
Table 5. Effect of M. concanensis extract on lysosomal enzymes and glycoproteins in adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats *
Acid phosphatase
N-acetyl
glucosaminidase
Total hexose
Control
0.18 0.02
32.6 2.8
2693 237.4
Arthritis
0.32 0.03
Arthritis + M. concanensis
0.19 0.03 y
Control
0.13 0.02
Arthritis
0.30 0.04
Arthritis + M. concanensis
0.14 0.02 y
Treatment
Sialic acid
Liver homogenate
43.9 3.4
1469 117.7
162.9 15.3
c
103.4 10.1 b
33.5 2.7 x
2700 225.6 z
160.8 14.6 y
26.8 2.4
2532 198.4
149.7 13.6
Stomach homogenate
39.6 3.1
27.0 2.3 y
1695 113.6
90.2 10.1 a
2559 200.3 z
144.0 13.3 y
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Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Moringa concanensis tender fruits / Asian Journal of
Traditional Medicines, 2008, 3 ( 3 )
Conclusion
In conclusion, the results of this study showed
that the extract of Moringa concanensis possesses
analgesic properties and potential anti-inflammatory
activity and supports its use in traditional medicine
for the treatment of painful inflammatory conditions.
This offers a new perspective for the treatment of pain
as there is evidence that the symptoms of vital pain
vary in intensity depending on the pain threshold.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank Mr. M. Bhavani
Eswaran and Mr. M. K. Singh for technical assistance
during the course of the study. These studies were
supported in part by grants from Department of
Science and Technology, Ministry of S & T, New
Delhi. The authors are also grateful to the Director of
NBRI for providing necessary facilities.
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Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of Moringa concanensis tender fruits / Asian Journal of
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