Antinociceptive Properties of Hydro Alcoholic Extracts of Anethum graveolens L. (dill) Seed and Aerial Parts in Mice

Chronic pain and its treatment have always posed a significant challenge for medical practitioners and manyattempts have been made to reduce and eliminate it, both in past and recent history. Research to discover neweffective drugs with excellent safety profiles is ongoing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the plantAnethum graveolens (dill) for use as an analgesic drug.Forty-two mice were divided randomly into seven groups (n=6). In the formalin test, the first group received normalsaline; the second group, extract of plant seed (300 mg/kg); the third group, extract of plant crops (300 mg/kg) andthe forth group received morphine (1 mg/kg). For the hot plate test, the first group received normal saline; the secondgroup, extract of plant seed (300 mg/kg) and the third group received extract of plant crops (300 mg/kg). All injectionsconsisted of 0.5 ml given intraperitoneally.In the early phase of formalin test, the animals treated with seed and crop extracts did not show analgesic effectscompared to control group (P=0.386, P=0.284 respectively). In contrast, in the late phase of formalin test, seed andcrop extracts significantly decreased indications of pain compared to the saline group with seed extracts showingstronger analgesic effects (P=0.004, P=0.023 respectively). In the hot plate test, crop and seed extracts showedhyperalgesic properties. This effect was stronger in animals treated with crop extracts as compared to seed extracts.These findings indicate that Anethum graveolens can reduce inflammatory pain, probably by inhibiting inflammatorymediators. In contrast, this plant has no analgesic effects on spinal nociception and conversely may exacerbate it. Thisstudy provides a basis for the use of Anethum graveolens extracts in popular folk medicine, but further studies arenecessary to elucidate the mechanism of its analgesic actions