Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of methanol extract of Cissus repens in mice

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate possible analgesic and anti-inflammatory mechanisms of the CR MeOH. Analgesic effect was evaluated in two models including acetic acid-induced writhing response and formalin-induced paw licking. The anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated by λ-carrageenan- induced mouse paw edema and histopathologic analyses. The results showed that CR MeOH (500 mg/kg) decreased writhing response in the acetic acid assay and licking time in the formalin test. CR MeOH (100 and 500 mg/kg) significantly decreased edema paw volume at 4th to 5th hours after λ-carrageenan had been injected. Histopathologically, CR MeOH abated the level of tissue destruction and swelling of the edema paws. These results were indicated that anti-inflammatory mechanism of CR MeOH may be due to declined levels of NO and MDA in the edema paw through increasing the activities of SOD, GPx, and GRd in the liver. Additionally, CR MeOH also decreased IL-1β, IL-6, NFκB, TNF-α, COX-2, and iNOS levels. The contents of two active ingredients, ursolic acid and lupeol, were quantitatively determined. This paper demonstrated possible mechanisms for the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of CR MeOH and provided evidence for the classical treatment of Cissus repens in inflammatory diseases. © 2012 Ching-Wen Chang et al.