Antinociceptive effect of Pentas lanceolata and Ximenia americana medicinal plants used to treat malaria traditionally in Kenya
Abstract
Background: Pain being one of the many symptoms experienced in the course of an infection, this study was designed to investigate antinociceptive activity of two medicinal plants used to treat malaria traditionally. In traditional health practice there is usually a misunderstanding on whether the plants clear the disease causing organism or they cure the pain as one of the most common symptoms. The plants were selected based on their ethnomedical literature as a means of establishing a distinction between their antinociceptive and bio-activities.
Objective: To determine antinociceptive effect of Pentas lanceolata and Ximenia americana.
Materials and Methods: The aerial parts of P. lanceolata and the stem bark of X. americana were collected from Kiangombe forest and Kerio Valley in Embu and Elgeyo Marakwet Counties respectively. The collection was done with the help of an experienced taxonomist. The plant parts were dried, and extracted with methanol and aqueous solvents. Analgesic activity was determined by the tailflick and formalin test techniques in male albino mice. The positive control used in the experiment was acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) at 100 mg/kg.
Results: Antinociceptive activity of the plant extracts in the tail flick assay was time and dose dependent, except in the case of P. lanceolata methanol extract. In the formalin test, the extracts significantly (p<0.05) reduced the time spent in pain behavior in both the early and late phases
Conclusion: The results of this study support the use of these plants to manage pain and imply other pharmacological benefits to the host other than parasiticidal effect in malaria treatment.
Keywords: Medicinal plants, tail-flick, formalin test, antinociceptive
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