Analgesic and Antipyretic Activities of Ethanolic Extract of Sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan L.) Leaves

Abstract

Sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan L.) is used as an analgesic and antipyretic by the Indonesian people, empirically. The aim of this study was to determine the analgesic and antipyretic activity of ethanolic extract of sapan wood leaves in Webster mice as experimental animals. The writhing method was used to determine the analgesic activity in acetic acid-induced mice with mefenamic acid as a positive control. The temperature reduction method was used to determine the antipyretic activity in yeast-induced mice with paracetamol as a positive control. One-way ANOVA was conducted for statistical analysis, followed by Tukey-Kramer post hoc test. Phytochemical screening showed that sappan wood contains alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, monoterpenoids, and sesquiterpenoids. The optimum dose of analgesic and antipyretic activity was 6.3 mg and 8.4 mg/20 g BW of mice, respectively. The conclusion was ethanolic extract of sappan wood leaves has analgesic and antipyretic activities.