Antinociceptive and Antioxidant Activities of Methanol Extract and Fractions of the  Root Bark of Callichilia stenopetala Stapf. (Family Apocynaceae) In Mice

Celestina I. Orabueze; Sunday A. Adesegun; Herbert A. Coker

Authors

Celestina I. Orabueze Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, PMB 12003, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria.
Sunday A. Adesegun Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, PMB 12003, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria.
Herbert A. Coker Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, PMB 12003, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria.

Keywords:

Callichilia stenopetala,, Analgesic,, Pain reaction time,, Acetic acid,, Hot plate.

Abstract

The root of Callichilia stenopetala is used as chewing stick in the treatment of toothache and for oral hygiene in South-East Nigeria. The study assessed the antinociceptive and antioxidant activities of methanol root bark extract and fractions of C. stenopetala. Analgesic activity of methanol root bark extract of C. stenopetala and its fractions were evaluated using chemical (acetic acid and formalin) and thermal (hot plate and tail immersion) tests in mice. Morphine sulphate, acetyl salicylic acid and diclofenac sodium at 4, 100 and 10 mg kg-1, respectively were used as standards. Antioxidant potential was evaluated using DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2- picrylhyrazyl) free radical scavenging activity and total phenolic content (TPC) assays. Oral acute toxicity was also evaluated. The extract (250 and 500 mg kg-1), ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions (200 mg kg-1) reduced acetic acid-induced writhing with percentage reduction of 65.14, 84.06, 93.27 and 50.63 %, respectively. The ethyl acetate fraction and methanol extract at 500 mg kg-1 significantly increased reaction times in tail immersion and hot plate tests. The formalin test results for the ethyl acetate fraction suggested involvement of central mechanism of pain inhibition. In DPPH scavenging assay and TPC, the extract showed good antioxidant potential, with most of the activity prominent in the polar fractions. At 8000 mg kg-1 no death of animal occurred. These
findings suggested that C. stenopetala has pain alleviating effect which may be due to its antioxidant activity and this further substantiated the claimed traditional use of the plant in the management of acute toothache.

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