The Nociceptive and Anti-Inflammatory Effects ofArtemisia dracunculusL. Aqueous Extract on Fructose Fed Male Rats

Abstract

Aim & Objective.Artemisia dracunculusL. (Tarragon) species have been used as a traditional medicine. The present study was designed to evaluate the nociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects ofA. dracunculusL. leaf aqueous extract on fructose drinking water (FDW) in male rats.Materials & Methods. Forty-eight Wistar-albino male rats weighing 200–250 g were divided into control (C), control extract (CE), FDW, and FDWE groups (n=12). Group C did not receive any agents; Group CE did 100 mg/kgA. dracunculusL. aqueous extract on a daily basis for duration of four weeks. FDW Group received fructose drinking water (10%, weight/volume) but did not receive any agents during trial period. FDWE group received 100 mg/kgA. dracunculusL. aqueous extract during trial period. At the end of experiment, a biphasic pain response was induced following interplanetary injection of formalin (50 µL, 1%). Obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software version 17 and using ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests. Results were expressed as mean ± SE. Statistical differences were considered significant atP<0.05.Results. Our findings revealed that acute and chronic pain scores in FDW group are significantly higher than other ones andA. dracunculusL. aqueous extract causes significant decreasing of this parameter in FDWE group (P<0.001). Moreover, IL6 and TNF values in this group were significantly decreased compared to FDW group (P<0.05).Conclusion. Results in the present study show that FDW causes the pain response score to increase and cause proinflammatory cytokines in rat model butA. dracunculusL. leaf aqueous extract improves values of these parameters.