Antinociceptive and Relaxant Effects of Aqueous Extract of the Aerial Part of Ziziphora clinopodioides
Abstract
Background and Aim: Plants from Iranian biomes, such as Ziziphora clinopodioides has been used as natural medicines by local populations in the treatment of several diseases such as asthma and stomachache and hypertension. In this study we investigated the antinociceptive and spasmolytic effects of aerial parts of aqueous extract of Ziziphora clinopodioides (APAEZC). Methods: The extract was injected to male mice 15 min before the onset of experiments intraperitoneally. Writhing and hot-plate tests were applied to study the analgesic effect of APAEZC and compared with that of diclofenac sodium (30 mg/kg, i.p.) or morphine (8 mg/kg, i.p). For evaluating spasmolytic effect of the extract, 5 cm of smooth muscle from ileum of rats were removed and set up for recording the isotonic contractions. Control contractions were obtained by adding acetylcholine (10-4M) to each tissue preparation and the spasmolytic action of different APAEZC concentrations (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%) on maximum contraction induced by acetylcholine were evaluated 5 min later. Results: APAEZC exhibited a significant (P<0.05) antinociceptive effect in both chronic and acute pain in all doses in mice and also showed a significant spasmolytic effect at dose 0.2 (P<0.05) and dose 0.3% (P<0.01). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that APAEZC have analgesic and relaxant effects. These results support the traditional claim of Ziziphora clinopodioides as an antinociceptive and antispasmodic therapeutic agent.