Evaluation of Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic Effects of Aqueous Extract of Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. and L.M. Perry. Using Four Different Models

Abstract

The synthetic drugs in use for the treatment of inflammation and pains often comes with side effects and high costs, this has led to the increased interest in exploring natural remedies from the plants. Syzygium aromaticum is one of the widely used medicinal plants for its pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties and the plant was extracted in distilled water using cool maceration method. Three different models; Acetic acid-induced writhing test, Hot plate reaction test, and Tail flick test were used to evaluate the analgesic effects where doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of the aqueous extract of the plant were administered orally to three groups of mice for each model, while anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated using egg albumin-induced paw edema method in rats in which 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg were also administered orally to three groups of rats. Indomethacin and distilled water were used in both analgesic and anti-inflammatory evaluations as positive and negative controls respectively. The three models were used for analgesic action in order to evaluate the effects of the plant on both deep and peripheral pains. The results showed that the aqueous extract of the plant significantly (p<0.05) reduced inflammation and pain in dose-dependent manner when compared with control group. The extract also increased the pain reaction time in rats, indicating both central and peripheral analgesic actions, and these confirms the traditional used of the plant in the treatment of pain and inflammation related health problems.