Evaluation of the antinociceptive activity and acute oral toxicity of standardized ethanolic extract of the rhizome of Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb

Abstract

Ethanolic extract of Curcuma xanthorrhiza was used to evaluate the analgesic and toxicity effects in vivo. The extract was standardized using GC-MS, which showed that 1 mg of Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract contains 0.1238 mg of xanthorrhizol. The analgesic activity was studied in rats using three different models, namely the hot plate test, tail flick test and formalin-induced pain test. The acute oral toxicity was examined by the oral administration of standardized Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract in mice at doses ranging from 300-5,000 mg/kg and observation for 14 days. Standardized Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract did not show significant analgesic effect in the hot plate and tail flick tests. However, in the formalin-induced pain test, Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed the paw licking time of rats in both early and late phases at doses 200 and 400 mg/kg of the extract, respectively. In the acute oral toxicity study, Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract did not show any toxic effects in mice at 5 g/kg. These experimental results suggest that the standardized Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract showed peripheral and central antinociceptive activity associated with neurogenic pain as well as a relative absence of toxic effects which could compromise the medicinal use of this plant in folk medicine.

Figure 1

Typical chromatograms from GC-MS analysis of (a) xanthorrhizol and (b) Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract. Insets: (a) mass spectrum and chemical structure of xanthorrizol; (b) mass spectrum of Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract with a peak at 9.58 min; Chromatographic conditions: HP-5MS capillary column (30 m × 0.25 mm × 0.25 µm); Injector temperature: 280 °C; Oven temperature: 70 °C–250 °C; Injection volume: 1µL; Flow rate: 0.5 mL/min. Electron impact (EI):70 eV.

Figure 2

Effects of the standardized ethanolic extracts of Curcuma xanthorrhiza and aspirin (100 mg/kg) on formalin induced pain in rats 30 min before subplantar injection of 2.5% formalin (0.05 mL) on the hindpaw of rats. 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg represent the dose of Curcuma xanthorrhiza. Data are mean ± SEM values for the paw licking time measured in early phase (0–5 min) and late phase (15–30 min). *p < 0.05 compared to the control group, treated with cosolvent (ANOVA, Dunnett’s test).