Antinociceptive Activity of Stem Extract of Telfairia occidentalis Hook in Rodents

Telfairia occidentalis Hook (Cucurbitaceae) is a vegetable employed in Ibibio traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases such as malaria, pains and fever among others. The stem extract of T. occidentalis (200-600 mg/kg) was evaluated for analgesic activity against experimentally-induced pains in mice using acetic acid-induced writhing, formalin-induced hind paw licking and thermally-induced pain models. The stem extract significantly (P < 0.05-0.001) inhibited pains in all the models tested in a dose-dependent fashion. The extract caused reduction in acetic acid-induced writhing, inhibited the two phases of formalin-induced pains with a more considerable inhibition of the second phase and prolonged the reaction time of mice dose - dependently in thermally-induced pain. The findings of this study show that the stem extract possess analgesic activity which confirms its use in traditional medicine in the treatment of pains.