Biomedicine

Abstract

Background: The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage”. The primary goal of analgesia is to eliminate the cause of pain but this is not always possible so analgesics are used to treat pain symptomatically. This study aims to scientifically validate the anti-nociceptive activity of stem of Rubia cordifolia using rodent models. Materials and methods: Ethanolic extract of Rubia cordifolia (EERC) stem was used for evaluating the anti-nociceptive activity in Wistar albino rats. Ethanolic extract of Rubia cordifolia stem was used at a dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg. Distilled water 10 ml/kg was used as vehicle control. Anti-nociceptive activity was evaluated by performing hot water tail immersion test and Eddy’s hot plate method comparing with Diclofenac (10mg/kg) as the standard drug. The data was analyzed using one way ANOVA (analysis of variance) followed by Tukey Krammer test. P value <0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Ethanolic extract of Rubia cordifolia stem at a dose of 200mg/kg showed a significant analgesic efficacy in hot water tail immersion test and Eddy’s hot plate method. Additionally, the results were closely comparable to the standard drug diclofenac. Conclusion: Ethanolic extract of Rubia cordifolia stem shows promising anti-nociceptive activity in Wistar albino rats, suggesting that it could be a valuable natural alternative for pain relief but further studies are necessary to confirm its safety and effectiveness in broader clinical settings.