Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effect of Lippia pedunculosa Hayek essential oil and its β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex

Lippia pedunculosa Hayek (EOLp) presents tripanocid and amebicid effects. However essential oil needs to be further studied in experimental models of analgesia and inflammation once the prevalence of pain in the population generates great suffering and disability and the drugs most often used have undesirable side effects. We also evaluated whether the inclusion complex formulation EOLp/β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was able to improve the antinociceptive activity of the EOLp alone. Data were evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey’s test. Differences were considered significant if p<0.05. EOLp presented better antinociceptive effect when compared to the EOLp/β-CD inclusion complex. Thus, cyclodextrins appear not to be efficient for essential oils with peroxide substances. However, in peritonitis, EOLp reduced total leucocyte migration and IL-1β levels in the peritoneal fluid, which confirmed its anti-inflammatory effect. The observed effects suggest that EOLp is the best promising option for the treatment of inflammation and pain-related disorders.