Antinociceptive Study Of Chloroform Extract Of Bauhinia Purpurea Leaves On Mice Using Hot-Plate Test And Abdominal Constriction Test

1.0 Title of Project : Antinociceptive Study of Chloroform Extract of Bauhinia purpurea Leaves on Mice Using Hot-Plate Test and Abdominal Constriction Test

2.0 Supervisor :

School of Health Science, University College of Technology and

Management Malaysia (KUTPM), Shah Alam, Selangor.

3.0 Co-supervisor : Puan Norazrin bt. Jamel

School of Health Science, University College of Technology and

Management Malaysia (KUTPM), Shah Alam, Selangor.

4.0 Introduction :

4.1 Definition of Pain

Pain or analgesia is an ill-defined, unpleasant sensation felt following internal or external noxious stimulus (Tripathi K.D., 2003). Description of pain is subjective and personal, and often influenced by numerous factors; age, gender, race or ethnicity, cultural background, genetic, physiological differences, and psychosocial factor (Walker R.S., 2001). This sensation plays a crucial role in health where it often indicates something is wrong to the body, as it is associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Pain evoked by stimulus, to a certain extent is considered normal. However, unbearable pain like intense epigastric pain and crushing chest pain may indicate something which is very wrong to the body. The excessive pain may also cause other side effects such as sinking sensation, apprehension, sweating, nausea, palpitation, rise or fall in blood pressure, or tachypnoea. Generally, pain is classified into two classes, namely physiological pain and pathological pain. The former serves as body protective function, warning against any potentially damaging stimuli. Neuropathic pain, chronic inflammatory pain, neuralgias, causalgias, phantom limb syndrome, and chronic ischemic pain like cardiac, and cancer pain are examples of pathological pain.

There are two types of physical pain, namely acute pain and chronic pain (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2005). The acute pain, which normally occurred when there is tissue damage, inflammation or disease, is immediate and of short duration. This normal body response to injury is sometimes accompanied by anxiety and emotional distress. The cause of pain can usually be identified or diagnosed and treated. The latter form of pain, is a continuous pain that persists for more than 3 months and often without a clear cause. Chronic pain, which ranges from mild to severe may also be brought up by chronic conditions like fibromyalgia, cancer, back injury, neuropathic diseases, and arthritis. It has a longer duration which may lasts for weeks, months, or even lifetime.

4.2 Analgesic Drugs

Sometimes, when the noxious stimuli that causes pain cannot be removed, drugs which alleviates the pain or analgesic drugs are given. These drugs works by treating pain as a symptom without affecting the cause of the pain. The analgesic drugs are classified into two main classes; opioid or narcotic or morphine-like analgesics and nonopioid or non-narcotic or aspirin-like analgesics. Examples of the opioid analgesics are morphine, heroine, opium, codeine, and methadone which affect the opioid receptors whereas the nonopioid analgesics like aspirin, ibuprofen, mefenamic acid, and phenylbutazone relieve pain by acting on the nonopioid receptors (Tripathi K.D., 2003).

4.3 Natural Products

As news on the disadvantages, adverse reactions, and health hazards of synthetic compounds or drugs crops up, many starts turning to other, better alternative or natural therapies in treating their health woes. Natural products in particular, has sparked numerous interesting findings such as anti-cancer, anti-analgesic, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and bone-grafting properties. These natural therapeutic products which have significant fewer adverse effects are now widely derived from various plants and animals. Deep sea compounds or marine-derived compounds for an instance, has been developed for medical use. Many compounds derived from microbes, corals, and sponges of deep sea like salinosporamide A (from Salinospora microbe), topsentin (Sponge: Spongosporites ruetzleri), and sarcodictyin (Coral: Sarcodictyon roseum) has found to possess valuable anti-cancer property. All three compounds are currently in preclinical development whereas salinosporamide A, which was reported to have 35 times potency as omuralide, a powerful anti-cancer agent, is already in human clinical trial phase (Maxwell S., H. Ehrlich, L. Speer, W. Chandler, 2005).

4.4 The Plant

4.4.1 Bauhinia purpurea L.

Bauhinia purpurea, which is also better known as purple Bauhinia, Butterfly tree, Mountain ebony, Orchid tree, Pink purpurea, variegated Bauhinia, or Akbar tapak kerbau and pokok kupu-kupu by the locals is originated from the family of Leguminosae. It is an interplant, and native to India and southern China. One of the distinctive marks displayed by this plant is the shape of its leaves, which they are partially split. The paired leaf lobes trademark of this tree subsequently were named Bauhinia, commemorating Jean and Gaspard Bauhin, both were sixteenth-century herbalists. The blades and flowers resemble the orchid plant. The flowers of Bauhinia ranges from pale to dark pink, to carmine, purple and lavender, whereas the pods are flat, linear and may be as long as 20 centimetres. The Bauhinia can eject its seeds as far as 15 metres through the action of the dehiscing pod (Jones D.T., 1993).

4.4.2 Medicinal Values and Traditional Uses

Although B.purpurea is not widely used in treating disease among the locals here, it has in fact useful as poultice sores and laxative (Jones DT, 1993). The leaves are used in sores treatment and to control hyperglycemia (Salatino A, Blatt CTT, Dos Santos DYAC, Vaz AMSF, 1999) while the flowers are said to have laxative effect. In its native country, India, the bark of B.purpurea is used to treat diarrhea. Apart from that, the bark, which is astringent, may also be used to treat stomach tumors and wounds (Jones D.T., 1993).