Papers of the Week

It is well known that the tendency toward the medicinal plants is increasing in recent years. They have low side-effects and high varieties of efficient components. This study was designed to investigate the analgesic effect of hydro alcoholic leaf extract of Rhus coriaria (HRCLE) in a rat model. For this purpose, 42 adult male rats were divided into 7 groups: control, HRCLE (80, 100 and 300 mg/kg, i.p.), morphine (1 mg/kg, i.p.), aspirin (1 mg/kg, i.p.), and HRCLE 300 mg/kg plus naloxone (1 mg/kg, i.p.). The analgesic effects of HRCLE were assessed with writhing, tail flick and formalin tests. The data were compared with control by one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test. All dose levels of HRCLE inhibited the number of contractions induced by acetic acid in the writhing test signfiicantly. None of the dose levels of HRCE have been showed antinociceptive activity in the formalin test except the dose of 100 mg/kg (at chronic phase) and the dose of 300 mg/kg (at chronic- acute phase). In the tail flick model, the highest effect was at the dose of 300 mg/kg of HRCLE (P < 0.01). Utilization of naloxone plus extract inhibited the antinociceptive effect of HRCLE. In this study, our findings suggest that analgesic effect for the HRCLE may be mediated via both peripheral and central mechanisms. The presence of flavonoids might be responsible for the antinociceptive activity of this plant.