EVALUATION OF ANALGESIC AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF SYMPLOCOS RACEMOSA

In Indian System of Medicine the bark of Symplocos racemosa belonging to family Symplocaceae is used for the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, dropsy, arthritis, inflammation, ulcers, menorrhagia and hepatic ailments. The objective of the present study was to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory potential of the bark of Symplocos racemosa. The formalin induced paw licking and tail flick models were used to study the analgesic activity and carrageenan induced hind paw edema model was used to study anti-inflammatory activity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the bark. Wistar strain albino rats with 200 mg/kg dose were used for both studies. Diclofenac sodium (5 mg/kg) was used as the standard drug. In tail flick test the increase in the reaction time was significant (P < 0.01) with ethanolic extract of the bark of Symplocos racemosa as compared to the control group. Acute edema in the left hind paw of the animals was induced by sub plantar injection of 0.1 ml (1%) carregeenan suspension in normal saline. The ethanolic extract of the bark of Symplocos racemosa very significantly (P <0.001) reduced the paw edema in carrageenan treated rats. The effect was maximum at 3 hr after the carrageenan injection. The significant suppression of inflammation during the whole experimental period indicates the long duration of action of the ethanolic extract of the bark.