Antioxidant activities of barringtonia racemosaleaf extract against acute morphine dependence rat model Halim Shariff12*, Sina Thur1, Ridzuan P.M1, Anna Deborah1, Abdullah Sarah1, Jasmi Nor Amira1 1International Medical School, Management & Science University, Seksyen 13, 40100Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 2Clinical Research Centre, Management & Science University, Seksyen 13, 40100Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia *Corresponding Author Dr. Mohamad Halim Mohamad Sharif International Medical School, Management & Science University, Seksyen 13, 40100Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Email: drhalim_shariff@msu.edu.my
Online published on 15 February, 2021. Abstract Morphine is commonly known as a pain reliever which is prescribed by the physician with the right amount of dosage. However, prolong use of this opioid drug can lead to morphine tolerance, dependence, and addiction. Therefore, this study was conducted to discovered the therapeutic effect of Barringtonia Racemosa [BR] extract as an alternative treatment to reduce the oxidative stress in chronic morphine dependent rats. Materials and methods: Female sprague dawley rats were divided into five groups [n=10] where the negative group was given normal saline as the other four groups [positive and treatment groups] were administrated intraperitoneally with increasing dosage of morphine from 2.5 mg/kg until 50.0 mg/kg for 7 consecutive days. Barringtonia Racemosa extract was given orally as a treatment with the dosage of 250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg, 1000 mg/kg for 28 days and the withdrawal behaviours were observed on day one, seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and thirtieth for 30 minutes. As for the oral toxicity test, 5000 mg/kg of BR was administrated orally and also via oral gavage. the ELISA was used to analyse the malondialdehyde and glutathione activities in the Ventral Tegmental Area of the rats after being dissected. Result: Acute oral toxicity test showed there is no toxicity behaviour changes so BR is safe for consumption. The withdrawal symptoms were significantly declined [p<0.05] for the treated groups. The level of MDA showed significantly decrease [p<0.05], whereas GSH level exhibited the significant increase [p<0.05] for the treated groups as compared to the untreated groups. Conclusion: Due to the ability of reducing the withdrawal symptoms by alleviating oxidative stress, it can be concluded that BR has a great potential to become alternative treatment for opioid dependence in the future. Top Keywords Morphine, Barringtonia racemosa, Addiction, Medicinal plant, Alternative medicine. Top |