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Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of a new cucurbitacin isolated from Citrullus colocynthis seeds

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Abstract

Current study was designed to explore the analgesic and the anti-inflammatory activities of a new cucurbitacin isolated from Tunisian Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. seeds. 11-Deoxocucurbitacin-I-2-O-β-d-glucoside was isolated from C. colocynthis seed chloroform fraction. This organic fraction, one of its subfraction (F19), and the purified 11-deoxocucurbitacin-I-2-O-β-d-glucoside were investigated for anti-inflammatory activity using carrageenan-induced paw edema assay in rats at the doses of 0.5 and 1 mg/kg body wt for the chloroform fraction and of 0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg body wt for the F19 subfraction and the purified product. For analgesic activity of different samples, the acetic acid and the phenylbenzoquinone writhing tests in mice were used at doses of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 mg/kg body wt. The results revealed that the seed chloroform fraction, the F19 subfraction, and the 11-deoxocucurbitacin-I-2-O-β-d-glucoside exerted significant in vivo anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities at all tested doses.These results suggest that 11-deoxocucurbitacin-I-2-O-β-d-glucoside from C. colocynthis seeds possessed potential pharmacological values and could be further investigated for its design as a new lead compound for management of pain and inflammation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire des Maladies Transmissibles et Substances Biologiquement Actives, Faculté de Pharmacie de Monastir, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia

    Belsem Marzouk & Mahjoub Aouni

  2. Laboratoire de Génome, Diagnostique et Valorisation, Faculté de Pharmacie de Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia

    Mohamed Ali Mahjoub

  3. Unité URSAM, Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Faculté de Pharmacie de Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia

    Abderrahman Bouraoui

  4. Unité de Pharmaco-économie et Développement des Médicaments, Laboratoires de Biologie Végétale et Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Faculté de Pharmacie de Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia

    Nadia Fenina & Zohra Marzouk

Authors
  1. Belsem Marzouk
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  2. Mohamed Ali Mahjoub
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  3. Abderrahman Bouraoui
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  4. Nadia Fenina
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  5. Mahjoub Aouni
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  6. Zohra Marzouk
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Correspondence to Belsem Marzouk.

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Marzouk, B., Mahjoub, M.A., Bouraoui, A. et al. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of a new cucurbitacin isolated from Citrullus colocynthis seeds. Med Chem Res 22, 3984–3990 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-012-0406-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-012-0406-2

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