The present study aims to investigate the analgesic activity of the methanol extract of the galls of Quercus infectoria in rats using hot plate and tail-flick methods. The extract was administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 20 mg/kg while morphine sulfate and sodium salicylate (10 mg/kg) served as standards. The methanol extract exhibited significant analgesic activity in the tail-flick model (P < 0.05) by increasing the reaction time of the rats to 8.0 sec at 30 min after treatment in comparison to control (4.4 sec). Morphine sulfate produced a reaction time of 11.9 sec in the same test. At the peak of activity (30 min), the extract produced maximum possible analgesia (MPA) of 34.2%, whilst morphine sulfate achieved a peak MPA of 70.9%. No analgesic effects have been observed using sodium salicylate in the tail-flick model. In the same model, the extract and sodium salicylate demonstrated comparable reaction times. Tail-flick is a better method to evaluate analgesic activity as no significant results were observed for all treatments using hot plate with the exception of morphine sulfate, which showed significant results only at 45 and 60 min after treatment. In conclusion, the methanol extract of the galls of Quercus infectoria displayed analgesic activity.
The high incidence and mortality of skin cancer along with the development of chemotherapy resistance have urged researchers to look into alternative strategies to combat cancer. Chemoprevention is one of the well-researched strategies using natural products. Canarium odontophyllum Miq. (dabai) is a local seasonal fruit that is mainly found in Sarawak, Malaysia. The leaves of the fruit harbor many medicinal useful phytochemicals that provide a new insight for chemoprevention. The present research has been planned to study the chemopreventive activity of methanolic extract of C. odontophyllum Miq. leaves on UVB induced B164A5 melanoma cells through its antioxidant profiles. The extract displayed statistically significant (p<0.05) antioxidant activity by enhancing superoxide dismutase, SOD (1023.02 ± 106.74 U/mg protein) and catalase (0.12 ± 0.003 U/mg protein) activities compared to negative control. Low oxidative damage was also observed whereby the protein carbonyl and malondialdehyde levels were significantly reduced (p<0.05), 1.69 ± 0.296 nmol/mg protein and 1.181 ± 0.03 nmol/mg protein respectively. In conclusion, the extract exhibited a promising skin cancer chemoprevention activity through its significant antioxidant activities. These findings evidently pave the path for further investigations in chemoprevention strategy.
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