Assessment of Acute Toxicity and Analgesic Effect of Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) G. Manetti ex Carrière Stem Extracts

Cedrus atlantica is a Mediterranean medicinal plant used traditionally for the treatment ofurinary tract infections and cancer. This study aims to evaluate the toxicity and analgesicproperties of the stem extracts of Cedrus atlantica.Powdered stem of Cedrus atlantica wasextracted successively with cyclohexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol, in a Soxhlet apparatus, toyield extracts F1, F2, and F3, respectively. An aqueous extract (F4) was obtained by macerationof the residue at room temperature. Acute oral toxicity of the extracts was assessed in miceaccording to OECD guidelines. Analgesic activity of the extracts (500 mg/kg) was evaluatedusing the writhing and tail immersion tests, with aspirin (125 mg/kg), and morphine (0.1 mg/kg)as positive controls, respectively.Acute toxicity studies showed that Cedrus atlantica stemextracts have no significant toxic effects at a dose of 2000 mg/kg. In the writhing test, theaqueous extract (F4) demonstrated the highest analgesic activity with 18.33±1.55 writhes(50.66% inhibition), followed by the ethyl acetate extract (F2) with 19.33±1.77 writhes (47.97%inhibition). F2 and F4 were more effective than aspirin which caused 21.66±1.88 writhes(41.70% inhibition). In the tail immersion test, F2 and F4 showed significant central analgesicactivity, both extracts significantly increased the reaction times, with F2 peaking at 5.02±0.45seconds and F4 at 4.92±0.30 seconds, compared to morphine with reaction time of 7.70±0.18seconds. These findings therefore suggest that Cedrus atlantica stem extracts are relatively safeon acute oral administration, and have potential for use as analgesic agent.