Evaluation of acute and chronic anti-nociceptive and anti-Inflammatory effects of apple cider vinegar

Abstract

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is a natural compound that is used mainly in numerous food preparations. During the last few decades, ACV has been used for various therapeutic purposes in different countries. One of its main applications by people in Iran and other countries has been as an oral traditional remedy to control chronic pain in arthritis. In this study, ACV’s effects on acute and chronic pain and inflammation were evaluated in an experimental model. Formalin test and sciatic nerve ligation in mice were used to study acute and chronic anti-nociceptive effects, respectively. Likewise, Xylene test in mice and cotton roll implantation in rats were used to study acute and chronic anti-inflammatory effects, respectively. ACV (standard preparation) was administered to animals orally by gavage or in drinking water (1%, 2%, or 4%). In formalin and xylene tests, none of ACV doses caused significant effect on animal response to acute pain or inflammation, suggesting that ACV does not possess acute anti-nociceptive or anti-inflammatory effect. However, in sciatic nerve ligation ACV showed a significant and remarkable dose-dependent effect on chronic pain evaluated by hot plate test, which was comparable to the positive control. Furthermore, chronic inflammation caused by cotton roll implantation was controlled significantly by ACV consumption. This effect was dose and time dependent. In this study, our results showed that ACV has considerable effect on controlling chronic pain and inflammation, confirming the value of ACV’s traditional use by many patients in helping their chronic pain and inflammation. Although B complex vitamins have been found in ACV and they might be responsible for at least some of the observed effects (recently, it has been shown that B1 and B12 vitamins have some useful anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects), it would be important to find out exactly which ingredient (s) of ACV is (are) responsible for this observation. The mechanisms of these effects need to be addressed as well.