Aqueous root extracts from Mimosa albida Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd display antinociceptive activity in mice

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology 2013-09, Vol.149 (2), p.522-526
• Main Authors: Rejón-Orantes, J.C., Perdomo Suaréz, D.P., Rejón-Rodríguez, A., Hernández Hernández, S., García Liévano, O.E., López Rodríguez, D., Pérez de la Mora, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetic Acid; Analgesic; Analgesics - therapeutic use; Animals; Antinociceptive; Anxiety - drug therapy; diazepam; Exploratory Behavior - drug effects; fentanyl; highlands; Hot Temperature; locomotion; Male; medicine; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Mimosa; Mimosa albida; nociception; Pain; Pain - drug therapy; Pain - etiology; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Plant Roots; Psychomotor Performance - drug effects; roots; Sedative; Solvents - chemistry; Traditional mexican medicine; Water - chemistry
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2013.07.010

In this work, we study whether aqueous extracts from the roots of Mimosa albida Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd, a plant known in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico as “Lotóm chíx” are endowed with both antinociceptive and anxiolytic effects. ICR mice were systemically treated with aqueous extracts from Mimosa albida and the reference compounds (diazepam, dipyrone and/or fentanyl) and their behavior was evaluated in several behavioral tests. Administration of aqueous extracts from the roots of Mimosa albida resulted in a reduction of the nociception elicited in mice by both the hot plate (12.5, 25 and 50mg/kg; i.p.) and the acetic acid-induced writhing (25 and 50mg/kg; i.p.) tests. No effects were however observed both in the elevated plus-maze and hole board test (3.2, 12.5 and 25mg/kg; i.p.). In contrast, both locomotion (open field test) and motor coordination (rotarod test) were affected at doses (50, 100 y 200mg/kg; i.p.) higher than those having antinociceptive effects. These data suggest that in mice the systemic administration of low doses of aqueous extracts from the roots of Mimosa albida results in antinociceptive effects in several models of pain through mechanisms that do not involve the opioid system pathway. These results support the ethnopharmacological use of Mimosa albida in popular medicine. [Display omitted]