Suppression of acute and chronic pain in male rats by alcoholic extract of Sambucus ebulus

  Pharmacologists believe analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioid compounds, due to their side-effects and, in some cases, inadequacy, are not always useful. Therefore it seems necessary to search for newer analgesic compounds. In traditional Iranian Medicine, the leaf and rhizome of Sambucus ebulus is used as a topical medication in the treatment of pain caused by bee stings, nettle stings and joint inflammation. We therefore decided to study the analgesic effects of this plant. Two methods, the tail flick test for acute pain and the formalin test for chronic pain were employed to measure pain. Analgesic effects of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg doses of S. ebulus rhizome extract were compared with 300 mg/kg sodium salicylate as a positive control. The plant extract relieved pain in the tail flick test and in both phases of the formalin test, while sodium salicylate only treated pain in the formalin test. In none of the two tests was naloxone effective in inhibiting the analgesic effect of S. ebulus extract. Phytochemical investigations and previous reports suggest flavinoids to be the probable analgesic compounds.