Abstract

ANALGESIC ACTIVITY OF METHANOL EXTRACT AND ITS FRACTIONS OF STREBLUS ASPER (LOUR.) ROOTS

Elora Tasneem Rahman, Sheikh Zahir Raihan, Zobaer Al Mahmud and Nazmul Qais

Abstract

The roots of Streblus asper (Lour) (Family: Moraceae), a quite available medicinal plant of Bangladesh, has been investigated for the screening of its analgesic activity by peripheral mechanism of pain reduction. The powdered roots were extracted with methanol at room temperature and partitioned with petroleum ether, carbon tetrachloride, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate by modified Kupchan partition method. In the screening of peripheral analgesic activity by acetic acid induced writhing method, the ethyl acetate and petroleum ether fraction at doses 400mg/kg and 200mg/kg body weight induced extremely significant (p<0.001) decrease in the number of writhes. The crude methanolic extract and other fractions also induced significant (p<0.05) decrease. The roots of Streblus asper can be considered as a potential candidate for analgesic products.

Keywords: S. asper, Analgesic, Acetic Acid, Writhing, Swiss-albino mice.