Analgesic and hepatotoxic effects of Ononis spinosa L

• Published in: Phytotherapy research Vol. 20; no. 6; pp. 500 - 503
• Main Authors: Yilmaz, Betül Sever, Ozbek, Hanefi, Citoğlu, Gülçin Saltan, Uğraş, Serdar, Bayram, Irfan, Erdoğan, Ender
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-06-2006; Wiley
• Subjects: Alanine Transaminase - drug effects; analgesic activity; Analgesics - analysis; Animals; Aspartate Aminotransferases - drug effects; Bilirubin - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Body Weight - drug effects; Fabaceae - chemistry; General pharmacology; hepatoprotective activity; histopathological examination; Liver - drug effects; Liver - metabolism; Liver - pathology; Male; Medical sciences; Mice; Nociceptors - drug effects; Ononis spinosa; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; histopathological examination; Digestive system; Pharmacognosy; Toxicity; Liver; Medicinal plant; Ononis spinosa; Analgesic; Leguminosae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Plant origin; Spermatophyta; analgesic activity; hepatoprotective activity
• ISSN: 0951-418X; 1099-1573
• DOI: 10.1002/ptr.1891

The present study investigated the analgesic and hepatoprotective activities of a water extract of Ononis spinosa L. (OS) in mice. Analgesic activity was based on the pain thresholds measured with the tail‐flick test before administration at 30, 90 and 150 min. The results were analysed with one‐way variance analysis. The extract of Ononis spinosa showed analgesic activity equivalent to aspirin at 30 and 90 min and even higher than aspirin with the 50 mg/kg dose. At a dose of 100 mg/kg OS showed an analgesic effect equivalent to aspirin at all time points.
The hepatoprotective influence of OS on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)‐induced acute liver toxicity was also studied. The extract had no significant effect on the increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and bilirubin in CCl4 treated animals (p > 0.05). Thus, the results reveal that the extract of OS had no hepatoprotective effect on CCl4‐induced acute liver toxicity. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.