Publication:

Evaluation of analgesic activity of Emblica officinalis in albino rats

Background Amla is one of the most often used herbs in indigenous medicine, whose all parts including fruit, seed, leaves, root, bark, and flowers are used in various Ayurvedic/Unani medicines. However, studies to establish analgesic potential of amla were limited, so the purpose of the present study was to evaluate analgesic activity of amla, if it possesses any.

Methods Albino rats were divided randomly in three groups of six rats each. Group 1 (control) received distilled water orally, Group 2 (test) received Emblica officinalis extract in dose of 600 mg/kg orally and Group 3 (standard) received Pentazocine in dose 10 mg/kg intraperitoneally.

Results Emblica officinalis extract did not produced statistically significant (p>0.05) analgesia when compared with the control group in hot plate latency, but produced a statistically significant reduction in 6% NaCl induced abdominal writhing (p<0.05).

Conclusions Since the plant extract significantly reduced the number of writhes in abdominal writhing model, but do not increase hot plate latency, the commercially available crude extract of Emblica officinalis exhibit analgesic activity involving peripheral mechanisms.