EVALUATION OF ANALGESIC ACTIVITY OF WITHANIA SOMNIFERA IN ALBINO RATS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Abstract

Pain is an ill-defined unpleasant sensation usually evoked by an external or internal noxious stimulus. The problems associated with the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioids as analgesics underline the urgent need to screen and identify plant material used as pain relievers in traditional medicine. The purpose of present study was undertaken to assess the analgesic effect of Withania somnifera in albino rats and mice. The analgesic action was studied by acetic acid induced writhing, tail flick and hot plate method. In each experiment animals were divided in 5 groups of 6 animals each. 1st group was given normal saline in dose of 5ml/kg, 2nd standard analgesic drug and 3rd, 4th and 5th group W. somnifera in doses of 400, 800 & 1600 mg/kg respectively. Normal saline group serves as a control. In all experiments drugs were given orally. W. somnifera showed significant analgesic activity (p<0.05) in all three models used to evaluate analgesic activity as compared to saline treated group.