Potential analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Panax ginseng head butanolic fraction in animals.

The present study reports the potential anti-rheumatoid activity of Panax ginseng head part. P. ginseng-head part BuOH fraction (PGHB) was safe in acute toxicity (LD(50)>5000mg/kg) and inhibited the partially acetic acid-induced writhes (approximately 32%, P<0.05) in mice. PGHB (500mg/kg) inhibited the acetic acid-induced extravasation of Evan's blue dye in mice by approximately 20.6% (P<0.05), and was similar to the suppressive effect of ibuprofen (27.7%) as a positive control drug. Also, PGHB reduced the carrageenan-induced paw edema at 3h after oral administration, and suppressed the production of serum IL-6 in CIA mice. This suggests that PGHB has potential analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities, and will be the supporting evidence for the potential anti-rheumatoid activity of Korean P. ginseng-head.