ORIGINAL ARTICLE Experimental evaluation of anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antipyretic activities of clove oil in mice

Background: Clove oil of Eugenia caryophyllata (Myrtaceae) is a light yellowish fluid obtained from dried flower buds. Clove oil is used traditionally to relieve toothache. Aim: The aim of the present work was to study the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antipyretic potential of clove oil in mice. Methods: Analgesic activity was examined using acetic-acid-induced abdominal constrictions and the hot plate test. Carrageenan-induced paw edema and brewer’s-yeast-induced pyrexia were used to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity and the antipyretic effects, respectively. The oil was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) at a dose of 33 mg/kg body weight and the effects were compared with reference drugs. Results: In the antinociceptive test, mice treated with clove oil exhibited significantly decreased acetic-acid-induced writhing movements by a maximum of 87.7 % (pB0.01) compared with a decrease of 77.7 % (pB0.01) in response to aspirin injection (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneal, i.p.). Similarly, in the hot plate test, clove oil significantly increased the reaction latency to pain after 60 min by 82.3 % (pB0.05) compared with morphine value of 91.7 % (pB0.01). In addition, clove oil and indomethacin produced anti-inflammatory effects, as demonstrated by respectively 50.6 % (pB0.05) and 70.4 % (pB0.01) inhibition of mouse paw edema induced by carrageenan. Furthermore, clove oil significantly attenuated the hyperthermia induced by yeast at DT-ma