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Journal of Thai Traditional & Alternative Medicine Vol. 6 No. 2 May-August (Supplement) 2008 ÒÛÒ

PO-29

Antipain activity of the spray containing extracts from Thai Lanna

medicinal plants imitated herbal balls entrapped in niosomes

1,2 1 1,2
Aranya Manosroi , Charinya Chankhampan , Jiradej Manosroi
1
Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 50200
2
Natural Products Research and Development Center (NPRDC), Institute for Science and Technology Research and Development,
Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 50200

Rationale: Herbal balls are the traditional massage tools for the relief of pain. They have been widely used
traditionally for many decades. However, herbal balls have many problems, for examples, it is not convenient to

use and has low efficiency because of instability of the herbal oil and the bioactive compounds. In this study, a
spray formulation containing oil and extracts from Thai Lanna medicinal plants imitated herbal balls has been
developed and investigated for antipain activity in human volunteers in this study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate antipain activity in human volunteers of the spray
containing extracts from Thai Lanna medicinal plants imitated herbal balls entrapped in niosomes in comparison

with the placebo and the commercially available emulgel product.

Method: The spray containing the plant extracts such as plai (Zingiber cassumunar Roxb.), tumeric (Curcuma
longa L.), lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf), kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix DC.) and ùsompoiû (Acacia
rugata Merr.) entrapped in niosomes was developed and prepared. Twenty six volunteers of 14 males and 12
females were recruited for the antipain test. The spray was applied on a fixed marked skin of the forearm. Antipain
activity was determined by modified technique of Hollander initial (1998). Pain was stimulated by a sphygmoma-

nometer. The minimum pressure causing unresistant pain for each volunteer was investigated. The antipain activity
was evaluated from the time (min.) that the volunteers start to feel pain. The tested samples were the spray
containing the extracts, the placebo (spray base and gel base) and the commercial emulgel (containing diclofenac

diethylammonium salt equivalent to diclofenac sodium 1%).
Results: The average times when the volunteers started to feel pain after the application of the spray containing

extracts, emulgel, placebo spray and placebo gel were 2.10±1.13, 2.02±0.88, 1.28±0.59 and 1.41±0.64 min.,
respectively. The developed spray appeared to show the same antipain activity as the commercial emulgel, which
was a dermatological pharmaceutical product (p value = 0.01). This study has confirmed the potential of the Thai

Lanna medicinal plants when applied with nanotechnology for antipain activity.
Conclusion: The developed spray containing the Thai Lanna extracts entrapped in niosomes showed the similar

antipain activity to the commercial available emulgel containing an antipain drug. This study has demonstrated the
potential of the Thai Lanna plant for pharmaceutical application.