ABSTRACT
Introduction: Borago officinalis flower [borage] is a known sedative in herbal medicine; the aim of the present study was to evaluate the antinociceptive effect of borage hydroalcoholic extract in formalin test male rats
Methods: Fifty-six adult male albino Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups: Control groups of A [intact], B [saline], and C [Positive control] plus test groups of D, E, F, and G [n=8]. The groups D, E, and F received 6.25, 12.5, and 25 mg/kg, Borago officinalis flower hydroalcholic extract before the test, respectively but group G received 25 mg/kg borage extract and aspirin before the test. A biphasic pain was induced by injection of formalin 1%. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS software ver. 17 employing statistical tests of Kruskal- Wallis and Mann-Whitney. The results were expressed as mean +/- SD. Statistical differences were considered significant at P<0.05
Results: The results revealed that the acute and chronic pain behavior score in test groups of D, E, F, and G significantly decreased compared to groups A and B, but this score did not show any difference compared to group C. Moreover, chronic pain behavior score in group G was significantly lower than all other groups
Discussion: The results indicated that Borago officinalis hydroalcoholic extract affects the acute and chronic pain behavior response in formaline test male rats