Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of the aerial parts of Artemisia dracunculus in XXXX .

@entity32 @entity11574 @entity19 @entity4 @entity1337 @entity406 @entity1510 @entity158 @entity1543
CONTEXT: Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L., Asteraceae) is an ancient herb, which is widely used as a medicine, flavoring, or fragrance. OBJECTIVE: To determine the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of aerial parts of tarragon, we investigated the effects of ethanolic extract of the plant in adult male Balb/c @entity19 . MATERIALS AND METHODS: Antinociceptive activity was determined using @entity406 , hot-plate, and writhing tests. The effect of the ethanolic extract on acute @entity32 was evaluated by @entity11574 -induced ear @entity4 in @entity19 . The ethanolic extract was administered at doses of 5, 10, 50, and 100   mg/kg, i.p. The control group received saline as vehicle of ethanolic extract. RESULTS: Our results showed that the ethanolic extract (50 and 100   mg/kg) decreased both phases of @entity158 in the @entity406 test (ED50   =   109.66 and 87.13   mg/kg, respectively). In the hot-plate test, the extract (50 and 100   mg/kg) increased @entity158 threshold during 60   min (ED50   =   81.03   mg/kg). The extract (50 and 100   mg/kg) exhibited antinociceptive activity against @entity1543 -induced writhing (ED50   =   66.99   mg/kg). The extract (50 and 100   mg/kg) showed significant activity in the xylene ear @entity4 test (ED50   =   78.20   mg/kg). Pretreatment of the animals with @entity1510 decreased the @entity1337 induced by the extract in hot-plate and @entity406 tests; therefore, opioid receptors may be involved, at least partly, in the analgesic effect of tarragon extract. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results suggested that tarragon have significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in @entity19 , and, therefore, further studies are required to evaluate these effects and additional potential of the plant.
