Abstract

The antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of ferula assafoetida gum in rodent model

Author(s): K.Abo-EL-Sooud, A.Goudah, Manal M.A.Yousef

The aqueous extract of the ferula assafoetida gum was chosen for pharmacological screening. Oral LD50 value greater than 5000 mg/kg was obtained indicating the safety of the gumextract for traditional use. In the acetic acidinduced writhing test, the extract showed 44.78 % inhibition of writhing. In radiant heat tail-flick method the gum extract produced 48.31%elongation of tail flicking time 10 minutes after oral administration at the 250 mg/kg dose level. The oral administration of (250 mg/kg) gumextract caused maximuminhibition of 45.59%in rat pawedema model induced by formaldehyde at the end of four hours (h). Diclofenac sodium at a dose of 50 mg/ kg was used as a standard drug for comparing the antinociceptive as well as the anti-inflammatory activities of the ferula assafoetida gum. The gum extract of the ferula assafoetida had significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects supporting the traditional use of this plant in the treatment of different types of pains and inflammation.