anti-spasmodic and anti-nociceptive effects of teucrium polium aqueous extract

background: teucrium polium has been known as an important traditional medicinal plant and is used for different therapeutic purposes such as gastrointestinal disorders. therefore, the anti-spasmodic and antinociceptive activities of aqueous extract of teucrium polium w as examined. methods: anti-spasmodic effect of different concentrations (47-470 mg/l) of teucrium polium extract was assessed on acetylcholine (220 nm) precontracted guinea pig isolated ileum. the anti-cholinergic effect of the plant was also examined by obtaining concentration-response curves in the absence and presence of teucrium polium extract (470 mg/l) and atropine (10 nm). anti-nociceptive effect of different doses (30-240 mg/kg ) of teucrium polium aqueous extract was determined by hot-plate test on mice and compared with the effect of morphine (10 mg/kg) as positive control. results: maximum inhibition response induced by teucrium polium extract on contraction induced by acetylcholine (220 nm) was 93.5%. in the absence and presence of teucrium polium extract (470 mg/l) and atropine (10 nm) the ec50 (the effective concentration causing 50% of maximum response) of ach were 28.3 ± 2.1, 55.4 ± 3.7 and 208.1 ± 9.2 nm respectively. there was also a parallel rightward shift in the log concentration-response curve of acetylcholine in the presence of atropine, but a nonparallel shift in the presence of teucrium polium extract. the teucrium polium extract increased reaction time dose-dependently (p<0.01 for all doses). however the anti-nociceptive effect of extract was significantly less than that of morphine (p<0.001). conclusion: these results show that teucrium polium aqueous extract have anti-nociceptive and anti-spasmodic effects and may have some clinical benefits for gastrointestinal disorders.