Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the essential oil of Nepeta crispa Willd. in experimental rat models.

This study was conducted to evaluate the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the essential oil of Nepeta crispa. The study was done using the tail-flick and formalin test pain models and the paw oedema model of inflammation. Male Wistar rats were used as the animal model. The essential oil dose-dependently produced analgesia in the acute pain models, including the tail-flick (p < 0.001) and the first phase of the formalin test (p < 0.01). In the late phase of the formalin test, as a model of chronic pain, the essential oil significantly reduced the pain-induced behaviour (p < 0.01). Nepeta crispa essential oil caused potent anti-inflammatory effects in the formalin-induced paw inflammation model and significantly reduced the paw oedema in all applied doses (p < 0.01). Its effects on pain in both the acute and chronic pain models and its anti-inflammatory effect suggest both central and peripheral mechanisms of action for the essential oil obtained from N. crispa.