Anti-nociceptive activity of seed extract of Vernonia anthelmintica willd.

Vernonia anthelmintica is commonly known as kali ziri. Its seeds are used for several therapeutical purposes. Its seeds contain many constituents of medicinal importance as vernodlin, vernodalol, and vernolic acid. It is commonly used psoriasis and leucoderma or white leprosy. It is potent wormicidal agent. The present study was conducted on seed's extract of V. anthelmintica to determine its analgesic potency. The activity was conducted on mice by using acetic acid induced writhes,hot plate method and by tail flick method using water bath. The results of the writhing test were highly significant and comparable with Aspirin, which produced 26 and 20 writhes. The percentage of inhibition of writhes with the two doses of crude extract was 65.45% and 64.28% at 300mg/kg, while 83.63% and 71.42% at 500mg/kg, where as with Aspirin it was 52.72% and 28.57% in first and second phase respectively. Hot plate and tail flick method also indicated that vernonia has potent analgesic activity. The drug can be utilized as anti-nociceptive agent.