Abstract
The present investigation was designed to evaluate the analgesic and central nervous system (CNS) depressant activities of the methanolic extract of Ziziphus rugosa Lam. in rat model. The analgesic activity of the extract was examined using acetic acid-induced writhing test (chemically induced pain) at the doses of 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight. Further, the CNS depressant activity of the plant extract was evaluated by open field and hole cross tests at the doses of 300 and 500 mg/kg body weight. In the analgesic activity test, the methanolic extract of Z. rugosa showed significant (p < 0.01) antinociceptive activity in a dose dependent manner. The extract at the dose of 300 mg/kg exhibited 51.87% inhibition of writhing response which was comparable to the reference drug Indomethacin (55.20%). On the other hand, the plant extract also demonstrated significant (p < 0.01) dose-dependent reduction of locomotor and exploratory activities in the open field and hole cross tests. This analgesic and CNS-depressant activity of the extract might be due to the presence of biologically important chemical compounds. Key words: Central nervous system (CNS)-depressant, antinociceptive, hole cross tests, writhing, locomotor activity.  
Highlights
Pain is the part of a defensive response against dysfunction of an organ or imbalance in its functions towards potentially dangerous stimulus
The central nervous system (CNS) depressant activity of the plant extract was evaluated by open field and hole cross tests at the doses of 300 and 500 mg/kg body weight
In acetic acid induced writhing test, the methanol extract of Z. rugosa significantly (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) reduced the number of writhing movements induced by intraperitoneal administration of acetic acid solution
Summary
Pain is the part of a defensive response against dysfunction of an organ or imbalance in its functions towards potentially dangerous stimulus. Many drugs are used to relieve the pain and most of them produce some side-effects on the physiology of the body (Devraj and Karpagam, 2011). As a result, searching of new analgesic drugs from traditionally used plant species as pain killers should still is a rational strategy. The plant Ziziphus rugosa Lam. is a large straggling armed shrub with large elliptic usually subcordate leaves and belongs to the family Rhamnaceae. The flowers are paniculated and fruits are small drupe, glabrous and become white when ripe. Bark is used as astringent and antidiarrhoeal while flowers are used for menorrhagia and hemorrhage.
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