Original Article Antinociceptive Potential of Terminalia Catappa (Indian Almond) Leaves in Swiss Albino Rat Saurabh Arjariya*, Nitin Nema, Swati Tiwari, Ritu Dubey Sagar Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sagar (M.P.), India. ABSTRACT Terminalia catappa (almond) is a combretaceous plant whose leaves are widely used as a folk medicine for treatments of dermatitis, hepatitis, inflammatory disease, diabetes and other disease. The Antinociceptive activity of the aqueous extract of Terminalia catappa leaves was studied using the tail flick method, glacial acetic acid induced writhing and the hot plate test in albino rats. The aqueous Address for extract (500mg/kg) produced a significant (p<0.01) dose-dependent Correspondence inhibition of abdominal writhing in rat. The extract of Terminalia catappa (500 mg/kg) showed significant (p<0.05) dose depend Sagar Institute of increase in tail flick lantency in rat and the result of the hot plate test Pharmaceutical showed a dose – related and time dependant significant (p<0.01) Sciences, Sagar (M.P.), increase in pain threshold in rat 15 min after treatment at all the doses India. used in the study. The result indicates that the aqueous extract of Terminalla catappa leaves posseses analgesic activity which may E-mail: mediated through both central and peripheral mechanism. saurabharjariya@ Keywords : Terminalia catappa , Glacial acetic acid (GAA), Hot india.com plate, Antinociceptive activity. INTRODUCTION Pain is an unpleasant sensory or which bind to receptors and activate emotional experience associated with actual signaling pathways 2. Thus, pain can be a or potential tissue damage, or described in subject to multiple levels of biochemical and terms of such damage. The Nociception pharmacological controls, involving a involves the activation of specific primary diversity of cell types and soluble sensory neuron subpopulations that transmit mediators 3. As a result, compounds that the nociceptive information to the spinal present antinociceptive effect are of cord from where it is relayed to supra spinal potential therapeutic interest for the levels 1. Tissue damage occurs by activation treatment of human and animal pain. of nociceptors through the release of several Terminalia species are native from mediators, including excitatory amino acids, Africa and are now widely spread out in peptides, protons, lipids and cytokines, tropical and sub-tropical regions 4. The American Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics www.ajpct.org Arjariya et al__________________________________________________________________ leaves, bark and fruit of the tree Terminalia Baroda), and Terminalia catappa leaf extract catappa L. (Combretaceae ) have been were used in the study. commonly used as a folk medicine for antidiarrhea, antipyretic and haemostatic Preparation of extract purposes 5. The leaves of T. catappa have The leaves of Terminalia catappa been used for the prevention and treatment collected and shade dried. The collected of hepatitis and liver-related diseases 6. The drugs weighed (approx 1 kg) powdered and leaves of T. catappa contain many was extracted with deionised water by hot hydrolysable types of tannin, such as maceration followed by intermittent shaking punicalagin, punicalin, terflavins A and B and allowed to soak overnight. The tergallagin, tercatain, chebulagic acid, suspension was centrifuged at 5000 rpm for geraniin, granatin B, and corilagin 7. 20 min and filtered through a Whatman filter Punicalin and punicalagin showed inhibited paper No. 1. The supernatant fluid was HIV replication in infected H9 lymphocytes allowed to evaporate to dryness using rotatory with little cytotoxicity and also in purified vacuum evaporator, yielding semisolid HIV reverse transcriptase 8. A previous study residue. This semi-solid residue was has demonstrated the anti-nociceptive lyophilized to fine powder was stored 11 . actions of only leaf extracts of Terminalia catappa in mice, when given Animals intraperitoneally 9. Earlier researchers have Swiss albino rat were acclimatized to reported the nociceptive potential of animal house prior to experimentation; they aqueous juice prepared by maceration from were divided in ten groups with ten animals the tender leaves of terminalia catappa to per group (n=10). The rat were kept at support its folklore use 10 . Hence, this study controlled light condition (light: dark, 12:12 was undertaken to investigate the hr) and temperature 22 ± 1º C and were given antinociceptive effect of Terminalia catappa standard mouse pellet and water ad libitum . aqueous leaf extract in rats using three The experimental pain models i.e. Tail flick experimental pain models. response to thermal stimulation by analgesiometer , Hot plate analgesimeter MATERIALS AND METHODS (Harvard apparatus Ltd., U.K.) and writhing induced by Glacial Acetic Acid Plant material (GAA) was used for assessing central and The leaf samples were collected at peripheral origin of analgesic effects, periods of time: November– December in the respectively. (Animal ethical commity no. campus of the Sagar Institute of SIPS/EC/2013/32) Pharmaceutical Sciences Sagar. The plant was Plant select was identified and authenticated Tail flick method by Dr. Pradeep Tiwari, Department of The Tail flick method was carried out Botany, Dr. H.S. Gour Vishwavidyalaya, as described by Janssen et al. (1963) & Sagar (M.P.). (Herbarium no. (Davies et al., 1946),.The heat intensity of Bot./Her./B/2829 ) thermal stimulation (Techno Analgesiometer) was adjusted such that rats had control tail Drug flick latency of 3-4 sec and a 10 sec cut off Naloxone hydrochloride (DuPont latency was used to prevent thermal injury. Pharmaceuticals Wilmington DE 1998), The initial reaction time was recorded in Glacial Acetic Acid (Sarabhai Chemicals, thirty animals and then they were divided into AJPCT1[1][2013]071-077 Arjariya et al__________________________________________________________________ 3 groups of 10 rats each. Drugs were given to 1). GAA produced writhing in all the control the various groups as mentioned in Table 1 . animals. The mean writhing count in control Dose of extract was selected by performing rats was 5.2±0.12. The number of writhing acute toxicity method in OECD Guidelines within 90 seconds was decreased after 423 14 . Tail flick latency in seconds was pretreatment of rats with Terminalia catappa recorded every 30 min for a duration of 3 leaf extract (Table 2). Pretreatment of rats hours after drug administration. with the opioid antagonist, naloxone, partially reversed the inhibitory effects of leaf extract Glacial acetic acid (GAA) writhing method on Glacial acidic acid induced writhing count. Forty rats were divided into four The results of hot plate test presented in groups of ten each. Writhing was induced by Table 3 showed that the administration of injecting 1% v/v solution of glacial acetic acid Terminalia catappa leaf extract at the doses (300 mg/kg, ip) 15 . Drugs were given to the of 500 mg/kg and Naloxone (1mg/kg) a various groups as described in Table 2. reference drug significantly raised the pain Terminalia catappa leave extract given 30 threshold at observation time of 45 min in min before the administration of GAA 16 . comparison with control ( P < 0.001). Hot plate method DISCUSSION Rats were placed on aluminum hot plate kept at 55 ± 0.5 °C for a maximum time The results of the present study of 30 sec. 17 . Reaction time was recorded revealed the antinociceptive effect of when the animals licked their fore- and hind Terminalia catappa leaf extract in aforesaid paws and jumped; at before (0) and 15, 30, experimental pain models. Acetic acid 45, and 60 min after intraperitoneal induced writhing and tail flick test to thermal administration of Terminalia catappa extract stimulation are models of pain that mainly involve peripheral and central mechanisms (500mg/kg) to different groups of ten animals 13,15 each. Naloxone 1mg/kg was used as the respectively . Antinociceptive effect reference drugs. ( Table 3 ) observed in these experiments with TCLE indicates the involvement of both peripheral Statistical analysis and central mechanisms. Also pretreatment Data were expressed as the mean + with the opioid antagonist, naloxone partially SEM and Three parallel experiments was reduced the antinociceptive effect of performed and analyzed using the Students‘t’ Terminalia catappa. This indicates the test. Results were considered significant when involvement of endogenous opioid peptides in p < 0.01 or p<0.05. mediation of antinociceptive response of Terminalia catappa leaf extract. As the RESULTS analgesic effect is reduced partially after naloxone, some other nonopioid mechanisms The tail flick reaction time was may also be involved. It may be possible that significantly (p<0.001) increased in rats after TCLE may modulate some other Terminalia catappa leaf extract (TCLE). Peak neurotransmitters /neuromodulators involved analgesic effect of extract was observed after in the regulation of pain senstivity. 60 min of oral administration (Table 1). The The data presented in our study increase in tail flick reaction time at 60 min in suggests that Terminalia catappa have TCLE treated group was 102%. Naloxone analgesic property which might be potentially pretreatment significantly reduced the useful as such or also when it is employed for antinociceptive effect of TCLE (Table its other actions like antinflammatory 18 . AJPCT1[1][2013]071-077 Arjariya et al__________________________________________________________________