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Background: Recently various plants have attracted considerable scientific interest as potential therapeutic alternatives to known drugs used in anti-inflammatory therapy. Therefore, we have investigated the possible anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of aqueous extracts from flowers of the medical plant Nepeta nuda ssp. nuda L. (naked catmint) in a model of acute peripheral inflammation induced by intraplantar injection of λ-carrageenan in the hind paw of Long Evans rats. Methods: Two routes of N. nuda extract application were used: locally by intraplantar injections at dosages of 2.5 mg/kg and 25 mg/kg and systemically by intraperitoneal administration at dosages of 50 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, respectively. Paw volume was measured prior to the carrageenan application and 1, 2, 3, and 4 h after carrageenan injection. Spontaneous locomotor activity of the rats was assessed 3 h after carrageenan injection, corresponding to the peak of acute paw inflammation. Results: Local application of the higher N. nuda dose led to a marked reduction in inflammatory paw edema at the 4th hour after carrageenan injection, comparable to the effect of the positive control diclofenac sodium. Interestingly, a similar anti-inflammatory effect was observed at the 1st hour when both extract doses were administered intraperitoneally. Only the higher intraplantar dose of N. nuda extract significantly enhanced the vertical activity in comparison to the group treated with carrageenan alone. Conclusions: Our data indicate that the aqueous N. nuda extract possesses potent anti-inflammatory effects following both local and systemic administration in rats. Furthermore, when administered locally the extract exerts significant analgesic activity in inflammatory pain.
Keremidarska‐Markova et al. (Thu,) studied this question.