Evaluation of the Antinociceptive Effect of the Ethanolic Extract of <i>Punica Granatum</i>

Abstract

Background: There are severe adverse effects of analgesic drugs on human body. Extraction of analgesic drugs from natural products has therefore become the prime objective of the study. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the antinociceptive activity of the pomegranate fruit. Materials and Methods: Antinociceptive activity of ethanol pomegranate extract was examined using three models of pain: the writhing test, the hot tail flick test and the plantar test. The ethanolic extract of pomegranate was administered by oral gavages in doses of (100,150 and 200mg/kg, p.o (orally)), for all the tests and compared with aspirin (100mg/kg, p.o.) which was considered as the standard drug. Phytochemical screening and HPLC analysis of the plant species was carried out. Results: In the writhing test, the index of pain inhibition (IPI) was 37% for ethanolic extract of pomegranate (200mg/kg, p.o.), and 59% for aspirin. In the hot tail flick test, the ethanolic extract of pomegranate (200mg/kg, p.o.), has shown significant analgesia reaching its peak at 60 min maximum possible analgesia (MPA), was 24.1% as compared with aspirin 37.5%. Hyperalgesia was successfully induced by the plantar test and the ethanol extract of pomegranate (100,150,200mg/kg, p.o.), reduced the hyperalgesia in a dose dependent manner comparable to aspirin at (100mg/kg, p.o.). HPLC analysis revealed the presence of gallic acid, ellagic acid and Punicalagins A&B. Conclusion:The results demonstrated that ethanol pomegranate extract has an antinociceptive effect that may be related to the presence of identified phytochemicals.

Pomegranate-derived anthocyanin regulates MORs-cAMP/CREB-BDNF pathways in opioid-dependent models and improves cognitive impairments

“…The pomegranate fruit contains a rich source of compounds with antioxidant properties, of which a majority is present in the juice as anthocyanins [ 33 ]. Although anthocyanin has not been previously studied as an alternative form of non-opioid substitution therapy, previous studies have substantiated the benefits of anthocyanin which include its analgesic [ 34 ] and anti-nociceptive [ 35 , 36 ] effects as well as its use in neurodegenerative diseases [ 37 , 38 ]. Additionally, pomegranate-derived anthocyanin with a concentration of 0.15% in the present study was shown to be a potential source of antioxidant by scavenging the free radicals or preventing lipid oxidation, thereby acting as a non-opioid substitution for various in-vitro and in-vivo studies [ 39 ].…”

Phytochemical Constituents and Analgesic Activity of Ethyl Acetate Fraction of Punicagranatum L (Punicaceae)

“…Pomegranate extract and its fractions were prepared with references to methods of [10]. The whole fruits were cleaned, freeze-dried and grounded into powder using a blender.…”

“…In our previous work, we have affirmed that the crude ethanol extract was able to produce significant analgesic effect [10]. The present study was undertaken to provide further pharmacological insight into the active fraction, and the mechanisms of analgesic activity.…”

Anti-nociceptive and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Crotalaria pallida Aiton (Fam: Fabaceae) Leaves

“…The tail immersion test is used to determine both centrally acting analgesics (Ramabadran et al, 1989), like diclofenac Na (Schweizer and Brom, 1985) and peripherally acting analgesics like NSAIDs which inhibit cyclooxygenase in peripheral tissues, thereby interfering with the mechanism of transduction of primary afferent nociceptors (Saad et al, 2014). The results observed for the tail immersion test clearly showed that the ethanolic extract of C. pallida possessed a dose-dependent anti-nociceptive activity.…”