Papaver rhoeas L. stem and flower extracts: Anti-struvite, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antidepressant activities

Abstract

The Papaver rhoeas L. (P. rhoeas) plant, which belongs to the Papaveraceae family, is also used as food and is exploited to treat several health problems. The purpose of this research is to determine the anti-struvite, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antidepressant effects of the stem extract (SE) and flower extract (FE) of the plant P. rhoeas. We used polarizing microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) to evaluate the anti-struvite effect of our plant. The edema approach induced by the carrageenan molecule was used to study the anti-inflammatory impact of our extracts. The analgesic test was determined by calculating the number of abdominal contractions induced by the intraperitoneal (IP) administration of acetic acid. To evaluate the antidepressant effect of our extracts, we used the forced swimming test (FST). According to the results of the secondary metabolite extraction, both extracts contained high contents of secondary metabolites, while the results of the screening test showed that flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, tannins, coumarins, saponins, and terpenoids were present. The result of struvite crystallization inhibition observed by polarizing microscopy and FT-IR shows the inhibition of struvite crystal aggregation by SE by decreasing the amount and size of crystals in a manner similar to cystone. The results of anti-inflammatory activity show maximum inhibition of edema after six hours of carrageenan injection in rats (T6) for all extracts, with a maximum value of 86.36% for SE at the dose of 200 mg/kg. Regarding the analgesic effect of our plant, the lowest number of abdominal contractions was observed in rats treated with SE at a dose of 400 mg/kg. The FST results show that the lowest immobilization time was observed in rats treated with FE at a dose of 400 mg/kg. The results obtained show that the flowers and stems of P. rhoeas can constitute a rich source of bioactive molecules with potential pharmaceutical applications.