Artemisia biennis Willd.: Anti-Nociceptive effects and possible mechanisms of action

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Artemisia biennis Willd. (Dermane in Persian) has been used as an antinociceptive remedy in Iranian folkloric medicine. Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anti-nociceptive effects of Artemisia biennis Willd. aerial part essential oil (ABAEO) on male Swiss mice. Materials and methods: Nociceptive pain techniques including acetic acid-induced writhing (AAIW), formalininduced paw licking (FPL), glutamate-induced paw licking (GPL), and tail-flick (TF) models were applied. We assessed opioid and L-arginine-NO-cGMP-KATP pathways to detect the possible anti-nociceptive properties of ABAEO. In addition, neuropathic pain was induced by the cervical spinal cord contusion model. Results: ABAEO (120 mg/kg) had a significant anti-nociceptive activities in comparison to the control animals (p < 0.05) in the AAIW, TF, GPL, and FPL assays. The selective opioid antagonist (naloxonazine) administration in the AAIW test alleviated the anti-nociceptive effect of ABAEO (p < 0.05). L-arginine, methylene blue, and glibenclamide treatment prevented the ABAEO anti-nociceptive effects (p < 0.05); however, sodium nitroprusside could profoundly potentiate the ABAEO-associated antinociception in the FPL (phase II) test (p < 0.05). In nociceptive pain models, Cr (one of the main constituents of ABAEO) showed significant anti-nociceptive effects (p < 0.05). Moreover, the von Frey results indicated that ABAEO could attenuate mechanical allodynia in mice. Conclusion: Our observation revealed the anti-nociceptive effects of ABAEO in male mice. These effects could include, at least in part, modulating glutamatergic mechanisms via opioid systems. Our data output also indicates activating the L-arginine-NO-cGMP-KATP system in ABAEO anti-nociceptive activities.

Automated summary

Artemisia biennis Willd. (known as Dermane in Persian) has been traditionally used as an antinociceptive remedy in Iranian folk medicine. The essential oil from the aerial parts of Artemisia biennis Willd. showed significant anti-nociceptive effects in male Swiss mice, possibly by modulating glutamatergic mechanisms via opioid systems. Additionally, ABAEO demonstrated potent analgesic effects in thermal pain models and alleviated mechanical allodynia in mice.