Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Essential Oils of Vitex agnuscastus L. from South-West of Algeria

Background: Many species of the genus Vitex from the Verbenaceae family are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various medical conditions such as depression, venereal diseases, malaria, asthma, allergy, wounds, skin diseases, snake bite and body pains. One of them, Vitex agnuscastus L. has been used to treat pain, swelling, inflammation, headaches, rheumatism, and sexual dysfunction. Methods: The analgesic and anti-inflammaotry effects of essential oil extracts from Vitex agnus-castus L were evaluated employing various standard experimental test models. Acetic acid was used to induce writhes in mice and inflammation of paw edema. The analgesic activity of seeds essential oil at a dose of 150mg / kg gave a percentage of inhibition very near to diclofenac (40.13% and 40.41%, respectively). The essential oils show an anti-inflammatory activity in the test of the edema. Results: The evaluation of the percentage of inhibition indicates that the essential oil of Vitex agnuscastus L. seeds possess anti-inflammatory activity (150 mg/kg) nearby and sometimes better -during the time-than diclofenac (61,04% - 50% at 30 min; 62,04% - 83,33% at 60 min and 91,05% - 90,91% at 120 min, respectively). Conclusion: The results of this research indicated that Vitex agnus-castus L. essential oil of seeds remarkably inhibited inflammation and could explain the traditional usage of this plant.