Abstract:
The methanol extract of leaves of Dipterocarpus turbinatus Gaertn. and its Kupchan fractions were screened for in vitro membrane stabilization while the methanolic crude extract was evaluated for in vivo analgesic activity in mice at 200- and 400- mg/kg b.w. In heat- and hypotonic solution- induced conditions, the crude methanol extract inhibited haemolysis of human erythrocyte by 62.40±1.43% and 69.14±2.05%, respectively as compared to 70.37±0.95% and 40.60±1.65% demonstrated by the standard acetyl salicylic acid. Moreover, the analgesic activity was determined for its central and peripheral pharmacological actions using tail immersion and formalin-induced writhing test at 200- and 400- mg/kg b.w. The extract significantly (P<0.05) influenced the formalin-induced writhing in a dose dependent manner with the highest activity observed at 400 mg/kg b.w. (34.33%) when compared with the standard drug, acetyl salicylic acid (42.64%). A significant dose-dependent increase (P<0.05) of latency period was also observed in tail immersion method.
