Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of the methanolic stem bark extract of Antrocaryon klaineanum Pierre (Anacardiaceae) in mice and rat.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Antrocaryon klaineanum is used by traditional healers to treat many disorders including pain and inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the analgesic and antiinflammatory activities of methanol extract of A. klaineanum in mice and rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was performed to establish the chromatographic fingerprint and to identify various chemical components of the plant extract. The anti-nociceptive activity of methanol extract of A. klaineanum was assessed using the acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction model, formalin test, capsaicin and cinnamaldehyde induced-neurogenic pain and hot plate test. Anti-inflammatory activity was assessed on carrageenan-induced inflammation. Extract was administrated orally at 200, 400 and 600mg/kg. RESULTS: Phytochemical analysis indicated the presence of proanthocyanidins, phenolic acids and flavonoids. The results of anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities showed that methanol extract significantly (p<0.01) reduced the pain induced by acetic acid with an inhibition percentage of 45.49% (600mg/kg). In the formalin test, the extract also significantly (p<0.01) reduced linking time in both phase (neurogenic and inflammatory) of the test with inhibition percentage of 56.28% and 60.73% respectively at the dose of 600mg/kg. The methanol extract of A. klaineanum significantly (P<0.001) reduced neurogenic pain linking time induced by capsaicin and cinnamaldehyde by 82.54% and 75.94% at the highest dose (600mg/kg) respectively. More over the extract significantly increase the reaction time in hot plate test. In the inflammatory test, the plant extract significantly reduced the carrageen induced rat paw oedema from 30min to 6h with a maximum percentage inhibition of 89.88% (6h) at the dose of 600mg/kg. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the methanol extract of A. klaineanum may possess analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects and provide support of the traditional use of this plant in the treatment of different pain and inflammatory conditions. Further investigation could reveal metabolites of the extract responsible for the observed effects.

An automatic optosensing device for the simultaneous determination of resveratrol and piceid in wines.

For the first time, a spectrofluorimetric method is reported for the simultaneous determination of resveratrol (RVT) and piceid (PCD), two stilbenes showing diverse interesting physiological and biochemical attributes, as well as a wide range of health benefits ranging from cardioprotection to chemoprevention. The method makes use of a multicommutated flow-through optosensor in which the resolution of RVT and PCD is accomplished by means the sequential arrival of their photoproducts, on-line generated by UV-irradiation, to the detection area. This is possible due to the different kinetic behaviour of these latter on a solid support (C(18) silica gel) filling a minicolumn placed before the detector. The measurement in solid-phase of the photochemically induced fluorescence of the photoproducts (λ(ex): 257 nm/λ(em): 382 nm) is used as analytical signal for monitoring both compounds. The method has been applied to the analysis of RVT and PCD in wines and requires a previous solid-phase extraction (SPE) using Bakerbond C(18) cartridges. This pretreatment and the use of a solid-support in both the minicolumn and the flow-cell of the detector allow the determination of RVT and PCD by external calibration. Detection limits (DLs) are 9.3 and 12.6 ng mL(-1) for RVT and PCD, respectively. Commercial red and white wine samples have been analysed and the results obtained have been satisfactorily validated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).