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Background and Aim: Ducrosia anethifolia (Moshgak) is one of the most important herbs used in traditional medicine for treatment of anxiety and insomnia.  The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Ducrosia anethifolia leaf essential oil (DAEO) in male mice.
Material and Methods: This experimental study included 84 male mice. For evaluation of pain, we used pain assessment tests (writhing, tail-flick and formalin) and animals were divided into control group and experimental groups. The experimental groups treated with the essential oil (30, 100 and 300mg/kg), morphine, and naloxone plus 300 mg/kg of essential oil. We used Xylene test for evaluation of anti-inflammatory effect, and divided the animals into 5 groups: control, DAEO (10, 50, and 100 mg kg) and dexamethasone.
Results: In tail-flick and writhing tests, application of a dose of 300 mg/kg of DAEO showed a significant analgesic effect (P<0.01) in the test groups compared to that in the control group. In the formalin test, a dose of 100 mg/kg of DAEO in the chronic phase reduced pain scores in the test groups compared to the scores in the control group (P <0.05). In addition, in Xylene test, treatment with both doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg of essential oil led to reduced ear swelling in the rats (3.8 ±0.1, 4.1 ±0.8, respectively), compared to that in the control group.
Conclusion: Intraperitoneal administration of DAEO can produce analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.
Key words: Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic, Ducrosia anethifolia, Medicinal plants.
 
Received: Sep 24, 2016      Accepted: Feb 7, 2017