The present study describes the
phytochemical analysis and
analgesic activity of Curcuma zedoaria rhizomes grown in Brazil. The results showed that the hydroalcoholic extract, fractions, specially
dichloromethane, and a pure compound, denoted as
curcumenol (1), exhibited potent and dose-related
analgesic activity when evaluated in several models of
pain in mice, including writhing,
formalin and
capsaicin. Compound (1), which seems to be the main active principle from this plant, presented promising
analgesic effects, being several times more potent than different reference drugs evaluated in the same experimental models. The calculated ID50 values (micromol/kg, i.p) were 22 and 12 when evaluated in writhing and
capsaicin tests, respectively, and 29 micromol/kg in relation to the second phase of the
formalin model. The lack of effect in the hot plate test suggests that (1) act by a mechanism which do not involves the participation of the
opioid system. The
phytochemical analysis indicated that the chemical composition of the plant grown in Brazil is similar to that grown in other countries. The results confirm and justify the popular use of this plant for the treatment of dolorous processes.