INVESTIGATION OF ANALGESIC AND NEUROPHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF METHANOLIC BARK EXTRACT OF MIMUSOPS ELENGI

The methanolic bark extract of Mimusops elengi was investigated for its possible analgesic and neuropharmacological activities on mice at the doses of 100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg body weight. For the evaluation of analgesic activity, tail immersion and acetic acid induced writhing tests were used. The neuropharmacological activity of the extract was screened using hole cross and open field tests to investigate the central nervous system depressant (CNS) activity. In tail immersion test, the extract produced a significant (p < 0.05-0.001) increase of latent time to flick tail compared to control in a dose dependent manner. In acetic acid-induced writhing test, the extract, at a dose of 400 mg/kg, showed a maximum of 65.48% inhibition (p <0.001) of writhing compared to the control while the reference drug Diclofenac-Na inhibited 76.36% of writhing. In CNS depressant activity tests, the extract significantly (p < 0.05-0.001) decreased motor activity and exploratory behavior of mice in hole cross and open field tests respectively. These results suggest that the extract possesses analgesic and CNS depressant activity.