Title

Morphine versus apigenin-induced antinociception in rodent models- A randomised comparative study

Authors

Arka Mondal¹, Navin Gupta², G. Krishna Kishore³, Vinodhini Periyasamy³,*, Masuram Bharath Kumar⁴, Heenu Dhar¹ & Nikhil Chahal¹

Affiliation

¹Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, SGT University, Gurgaon, Haryana, India; ²Department of Physiology, World College of medical Sciences Research & Hospital, Jhajhar, Haryana, India; ³Department of Anatomy, Shridevi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Hospital, Tumakuru, Karnataka, India; ⁴Department of Pharmacology, Varun Arjun Medical College and Rohilkhand Hospital, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Arka Mondal - E-mail: arka_fmhs@sgtuniversity.org; Phone: +91 7706978429
Navin Gupta - E-mail: drnavingupta@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9810879644
G. Krishna Kishore - E-mail: krishnakishore.dev@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9885797928
Vinodhini Periyasamy - E-mail: vinodhiniarun20@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8903423634
Masuram Bharath Kumar - E-mail: bharatshah.m@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8318214595
Heenu Dhar - E-mail: heenu_fmhs@sgtuniversity.org; Phone: +91 7011054541
Nikhil Chahal - E-mail: nchahal5134@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8930464228

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received September 1, 2026; Revised September 30, 2026; Accepted September 30, 2026, Published September 30, 2026

Abstract

Apigenin a plant-derived flavone with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the antinociceptive activities in the acetic acid–induced writhing test in the rats and compared with morphine while assessing opioid receptor involvement using naloxone. Twenty-four Wistar rats were divided into four groups (n = 6): control, morphine (5 mg/kg, S.C.), apigenin (20 mg/kg, p.o.), and naloxone (5 mg/kg, i.p.) plus apigenin, and writhing responses were recorded 5–20 min after intraperitoneal injection of 0.6% acetic acid. Morphine significantly reduced writhing counts at all-time points compared with control (p < 0.001), whereas apigenin produced modest antinociceptive activity and the naloxone + apigenin group showed intermediate effects. Repeated-measures and one-way ANOVA demonstrated significant within and between group differences (p < 0.001). Thus, data shows that apigenin exerts mild antinociceptive effects that are largely independent of predominant μ-opioid receptor mediation.

Keywords

Apigenin, antinociception, visceral pain, acetic acid–induced writhing

Citation

Mondal et al. Bioinformation 22(9): 5714-5719 (2026)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.