Antinociceptive and Smooth Muscle Relaxant Activity of Croton tiglium L Seed: An In-vitro and In-vivo Study

The seed of Croton tiglium L. (SCT) is a well known folk medicine. In China, it has used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, intestinal inflammation, rheumatism, and so on. Previous studies established its purgative and inflammation properties. In addition, the effects of essential oil of SCT on intestinal transit and gastrointestinal tract has been studied. In the present study, we evaluated the antinociceptive effect of SCT through the writhing test in mice, investigated the effects of it on spontaneous smooth muscle contractions of isolated rabbit jejunum and examined the in-vitro results through the in-vivo small intestine propulsion. We further investigated the possible compounds using HPLC-MS, and six compounds were tentatively identified as phorbol esters. Furthermore, the possible fragmentation pathways of phorbol esters were proposed, and we also detected the possible compounds in the active parts.