Background: Speranskia Tubercalata
(Bunge) Baill, has been used to prevent and treat many diseases in Chinese folk medicine, nevertheless,
few investigations had been reported.
Materials and Methods: Animals were orally administered STE at the doses of 125, 250, 500 mg/kg. The analgesic effect was estimated in mice
by hot-plate test and the acetic acid-induced writhing test. The anti-inflammatory effect was assessed using rat paw edema model elicited by fresh
egg white and the mouse ear edema model caused by dimethylbenzene. The antipyretic effect was determined using the lipopolysaccharide
(LPS)-induced rat fever model. In addition, the acute oral toxicity of STE was studied.
Results: STE significantly and dose-dependently reduced the number of writhing responses in mice, prolonged reaction time of mice against heat
stimulation, depressed egg white-induced paw edema in rats and the dimethylbenzene-caused ear edema in mice, but did not alleviate
LPS-induced pyrexia in rats. No death of mice was observed when orally administered STE up to 52.8 g/kg (approximately 2080 times of clinical
dose used).
Conclusion: STE possesses evident analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities, but has no antipyretic effect. Furthermore STE has a favorable
safety. These findings support the applications of
Speranskia tuberculata as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug in folk medicine.
