A Study Of Pregabalin, Tramadol, Their Combination And Nigella Sativa In Neuropathic Pain In Rats

Nigella sativa (NS) is a commonly used herb in Asian and African countries. Extensive experimental studies have been done to shed light on its hepatoprotective, immunumodulator, antioxidant, antimicrobial and several other useful pharmacological properties. However, there is dearth of evidence to evaluate the effect of Nigella sativa extract in neuropathic pain. In this study we have used neuropathic pain model of Wistar rats using intraperitoneal cisplatin injection twice weekly for 4.5 weeks. Animals were divided into six groups of six rats each. Ethanolic extract of Nigella sativa, pregabalin, tramadol or combination of pregabalin and tramadol were given orally in Wistar rats in which neuropathy had been induced by cisplatin i.p. injections for 4.5 weeks. Single dose of drugs were given and pain assessment was done by soft touch, crude touch, Eddy's hotplate and tail flick analgesiometer at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 240 minutes. Nigella sativa showed significant analgesic effect on cisplatin induced neuropathic pain in all the experiments however pregabalin and tramadol showed better efficacy.