Preclinical assessment of central and peripheral anti-nociceptive effect of taraxerol acetate

Background: Successful management of pain remains a main clinical problem due to adverse effects caused with prolonged use of analgesics. This has motivated ongoing research into natural compounds that may possess therapeutic properties. A penta cyclic triterpene, Taraxerol acetate, has been reported to hold numerous biological activities; however, its analgesic properties have not been expansively appraised. The current study aimed to investigate using well-established experimental pain models in mice, the peripheral and central analgesic effects of taraxerol acetate. Methods: Central analgesic activity was determined by the hot plate test while peripheral analgesic activity was assessed using the acetic acid-induced writhing assay, Taraxerol acetate was administered orally at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg. As reference drugs, Aspirin (150 mg/kg) in the writhing and tramadol (5 mg/kg) in hot plate models were used. To evaluate the analgesic effects of taraxerol acetate, the number of abdominal writhes, percentage inhibition, and reaction time were recorded and analyzed. Results: Taraxerol acetate significantly reduced the number of acetic acid-induced writhes compared with the control group. The effect was dose dependent. The lower dose produced 51.08% (p value <0.05) inhibition of writhing, while the higher dose produced 77.57% (p value <0.01) inhibition. In the hot plate test, taraxerol acetate significantly increased the reaction latency. The 50 mg/kg dose showed the highest analgesic effect (p value <0.01). At some observation times, the analgesic effect of the higher dose was close to that of the standard drug. These findings suggest that taraxerol acetate may act through both peripheral and central pain-modulating mechanisms. Conclusion: Significant analgesic activity of taraxerol acetate against chemically induced pain and increased tolerance to thermal pain was identified in experimental. However, further studies are required to investigate its mechanism of action in detail and to evaluate its potential therapeutic role.