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dc.contributor.authorGichui, William G
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-16T08:51:21Z
dc.date.available2016-11-16T08:51:21Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11295/97416
dc.description.abstractThe use of plant parts for therapeutic purposes has been widely practiced in Africa. One of the trees used for fever and analgesia is Croton megalocarpus. However, animal studies have not been done to evaluate this claimed antinociceptive activity. The objective of the study was to investigate the antinociceptive activity of Croton megalocarpus using animal models of pain. The nociceptive tests used in this experiment were the Writhing, Tail Flick and the Formalin tests. Swiss albino mice of both sexes were used in a randomized design. In the writhing test, the mice were injected intraperitoneally with doses of the Extract, Aspirin and the Vehicle. Sixty minutes later, they were injected with 0.1 ml of 0.6% acetic acid and the number of writhes observed. In the tail flick test, the mice were injected intraperitoneally with doses of the Extract, Morphine and the Vehicle. An hour later, a light beam was focused on the animal's tail and a timer started. When the animal flicked its tail, the timer was stopped and the time recorded. The same was repeated after thirty, sixty and ninety minutes. In the formalin test, the mice were injected with doses of the Extract, Morphine, Aspirin and the Vehicle. An hour later, they were injected with 0.1 ml of 5% formalin in the sub plantar region of the hind paw. The time spent in pain behavior was then recorded. In the writhing test, all the doses of the extract exhibited significant (p < 0.05) antinociceptive effects compared to the vehicle. In the tail flick test the 50, 100 and 200 mg / kg doses of the extract exhibited significant (p < 0.05) antinociceptive effects compared to the vehicle. In the formalin test, the 50 mg / Kg dose of the extract did not exhibit significant antinociceptive effect whereas the 100 and 200 mg / Kg doses exhibited significant effects (p < 0.05) in the early phase compared to the vehicle. In the late phase, all the doses of the extract exhibited significant (p < 0.05) antinociceptive effects compared to the vehicle. These results showed that the extracts of C. megalocarpus exhibited peripheral, chronic and central antinociceptive activity hence it probably contains phytochemicals that may be of value in development of a novel drug for analgesia. However, further studies need to be done to elucidate nature and mechanism(s) of action of these metabolitesen_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Nairobien_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/*
dc.titleAntinociceptive activities of extracts of croton megalocarpus hutch (eurphobiaceae) using animal modelsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.description.departmenta Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, ; bDepartment of Mental Health, School of Medicine, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya


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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States