Assessment of the Extracts of Centaurea tchihatcheffii Fischer for Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic Activities in Animal Models

Purpose: To evaluate the ethanol extracts of the flowers, leaves, and stems of Centaurea tchihatcheffii Fischer & C.A. Meyer (Asteraceae) for their anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities in male Swiss albino mice. Methods: For the evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity, hind paw oedema was induced in the mice with carrageenan and prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2 ) and the mice received either 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight doses of the flower extract or 200 mg/kg body weight dose of the leaf and stem extracts. Furthermore, ear oedema was induced in other groups of mice with 12-O-tetradecanoyl-13-acetate (TPA) and then administered with 0.5 mg/ear dose of the extract of either of the three plant parts. In order to evaluate analgesic activity, p-benzoquinone-induced abdominal constriction test was used with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight doses of the flower or 200mg/kg body weight dose of the leaf and stem extracts administered. Indomethacin and acetylsalicylic acid were the reference drugs for antiinflamatory and analgesic evaluations, respectively. Phytochemical screening of the flower extract was carried out by thin layer chromatography (TLC). Results: The results of evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activities induced by carrageenan and PGE2 showed that the flower extract diminished cyclo-oxygenase activitiy at the 200 mg/kg dose to the same level as the reference drug, indomethacin. However, no anti-inflamatory activity was seen in the TPAinduced ear oedema model. The extracts from all three parts of the plant showed analgesia in pbenzoquinone- induced abdominal constriction test. TLC analysis of the flower extract indicated the presence of sesquiterpen lactones, which may have been responsible for the analgesic activity. Conclusion: Our results support the use of C. tchihatcheffii in traditional medicine in Turkey for their anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.