Effects of Zingiber officinale Rosc. Hydroethanloic Extract on Antinociception Induced by Hyoscine in Male Rats

There has been recently a great interest in the interaction between the synthetic drugs and the plant extracts to produce pharmacological responses. For example, the combination of plant extracts and common analgesics can increase their antinociceptive activity, allowing the use of lower doses and, thus, limiting side effects. The effects of administration of Zingiber officinale extract, morphine, hyoscine and combination of Z. officinale with hyoscine were examined on pain control in rats. The rats were randomly divided into 10 groups (n=6). Hyoscine (0.5, 1, 5 and 10 mg/kg) and morphine (2.5 mg/kg) were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.). The extract (100 and 200 mg/kg) was administered orally one hour before hyoscine injection. Rats were evaluated 30 minutes after the last treatment in tail flick (tf) test. Hyoscine (1, 5 and 10 mg/kg) and morphine (2.5 mg/kg) caused antinociception in tf test (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.05, p<0.001(. Combination of hyoscine (0.5 mg/kg) and the Zingiber extract caused more antinociception compared to the groups that only received hyoscine or the extract. Since hyoscine as an anticholinergic drug with analgesic effects has some undesired side effects, combination of Z. officinale extract with hyoscine can cause antinociception with minimum dose and the side effects related to hyoscine.