Evaluation Of the Analgesic Activity of Vaippu Abini – A Synthetic Equivalent for Opium Prepared Using Siddha Traditional Vaippu Method.

Background: Vaippu is a unique method described by Siddhars in which they prepared a synthetic form of unavailable drugs or the drugs which resembles the action of original drug. Abini (Opium) is a natural occurring compound but it can be synthetically prepared according to the siddha literature. Abini is indicated for athisaaram (Diarrhoea), Kunmam (Gastric Ulcer), Vaatha diseases, pall vali (tooth ache), kaadhu noigal (Ear diseases) etc [4]. Hence the present study is aimed to prepare Vaippu Abini and evaluate its safety through acute toxicity study and therapeutic efficacy through analgesic activity.Materials and Methods: The mice were randomly allocated into four groups 6 animals each. Group I served as control received vehicle only (Distilled water 10 ml/kg). Group II served as reference control received Pentazocine (10mg/kg). Group III and IV administered with 200 and 400mg/kg of Vaippu Abini respectively, through oral route gastric intubation tubes. In this method, analgesia was assessed according to the method of Luiz et al. Mice were held in position in a suitable restrainer with the tail extending out. Three to four cm area of the tail was marked and immersed in the water bath thermostatically maintained at 55OC. The withdrawal time of the tail from hot water (in seconds) was noted as the reaction time or tail flick latency. The maximum cut off time for immersion was 15 sec to avoid the injury of the tissues of tail. The initial reading was taken immediately before administration of test and standard drugs and then 30, 60, 90 and 120 mins after the administration. Tail flick latency difference or mean increase in latency after drug administration was used to indicate the analgesia produced by test and standard drugs.[28]Results: The results of the tail flick analgesic activity of the Vaippu Abini  is the animals treated with vehicle did not show any significant difference in the basal reaction time on tail-flick latency throughout the 120 min observation. At 30 minutes of observation, the reference control (Pentazocine) and high dose of Vaippu Abini showed significant (P<0.05) tail flick latency compared to control. At 60 minutes of observation, the reference control (Pentazocine) and high dose of Vaippu Abini showed significant (P<0.01) tail flick latency compared to control and low dose of Vaippu Abini showed moderate level of significant (P<0.05) in tail flick latency compared to control. At 90 minutes of observation, the reference control (Pentazocine) and low dose of Vaippu Abini showed moderate significant (P<0.01) tail flick latency compared to control and high dose of Vaippu Abini showed marked level of significant (P<0.001) in tail flick latency compared to control, which was more than that of reference control. At 120 minutes of observation, both the dose of Vaippu Abini showed significant (P<0.01) tail flick latency compared to control, and more than that of reference control pentazocine. Conclusion:  The prepared drug meets all the traditional quality parameters and also fulfils the standardization parameters of Ilagam or Semisolid drug forms mentioned in PLIM guidelines. Based on the Pharmacological studies the drug Vaippu Abini has Analgesic activity which is related to Abini of natural origin. Thus, the Vaippu Abini can be substituted for natural Abini in treatment of pain, diarrhoea, and spasm conditions.