A PRELIMINARY ANTIHYPERGLYCEMIC AND ANTINOCICEPTIVE ACTIVITY EVALUATION OF AMORPHOPHALLUS CAMPANULATUS CORMS

Objective: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the antihyperglycemic and antinociceptive potential of methanol extract of Amorphophallus campanulatus corms in Swiss albino mice. Methods: Antihyperglycemic acivity was determined through oral glucose tolerance tests in glucose-loaded mice. Antinociceptive activity was determined through intraperitoneally administered acetic acid induced pain model in mice. Results: The extract, when administered to mice at doses of 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg per kg body weight, dose-dependently reduced blood glucose levels in glucose-loaded mice, respectively, by 28.8, 29.1, 35.3, and 37.4%. A standard antihyperglycemic drug, glibenclamide, when administered at a dose of 10 mg per kg body weight reduced blood glucose level by 40.7%. Thus the extract, at the highest dose tested, showed a near equivalent antihyperglycemic potency to that of glibenclamide. At the afore-mentioned four doses, the extract reduced the number of abdominal constrictions induced by intraperitoneal administration of acetic acid in mice by 30.4, 33.3, 42.4, and 45.5%, respectively. By comparison, a standard antinociceptive drug, aspirin, when administered to mice at doses of 200 and 400 mg per kg body weight, reduced the number of abdominal constrictions by 27.3 and 36.4%, respectively, demonstrating that the extract, even at the lowest dose, was more potent than the lower dose of aspirin. Conclusion: The results suggest that corms of the plant possess constituents with antihyperglycemic and antinociceptive activities, and which merits further isolation and identification.