www.ijbcp.com International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology | March 2017 | Vol 6 | Issue 3 Page 608 IJBCP International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology Print ISSN: 2319-2003 | Online ISSN: 2279-0780 Original Research Article A comparative study for antinociceptive potential of vitamin D 3 with diclofenac in animal models Abhinav David 1 , Raj Kumar Goel 1 *, Prashant Patel 2 , Priyadarshani Paul 3 INTRODUCTION Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids synthesized in adequate amounts by all mammals from sunlight. The major endogenous source of Vitamin D for humans is the epidermis. 1 Calcitriol (Vitamin D 3 ), also known as the “sunshine vitamin” is one of the major physiologically active forms of Vitamin D. Vitamin D 3 is manufactured by the irradiation of 7-dehydrocholesterol from lanolin and the chemical conversion of cholesterol in the epidermis. 2 It promotes intestinal absorption of calcium and regulates bone mineralization. 3 The discovery of vitamin D receptors in many tissues besides intestine and bone- including brain, heart, pancreas, breast, prostate, lymphocytes, and other tissues- implies that vitamin D supplementation might have applications for treating a number of disorders. 4,5 These non-classic tissues are therefore potential targets for the active metabolite of Vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D which may provide number of potential new clinical applications of Calcitriol and its analogs. One of such non-classic action of calcitriol is the regulatory effect on some of the key molecular pathways involved in inflammation, such as inhibition of Prostaglandin synthesis and actions. Calcitriol inhibits the synthesis and biological actions of pro-inflammatory PGs by mechanisms like suppression of the expression of cyclooxygenase-2, up-regulation of the expression of 15-hydroxyprostaglandin ABSTRACT Background: Calcitriol is one of the active forms of vitamin D. It not only acts on calcium metabolism but might have a role in treating various disorders also through vitamin D receptors that are present in many tissues besides intestine and bone. This study was conducted to compare antinociceptive activity of Calcitriol with Diclofenac and Morphine in animal models. Methods: In this study, healthy Swiss albino mice were taken after permission from IAEC. Mice were divided into six groups as one control- treated with normal saline, two standards - treated with diclofenac and treated with morphine while three tests - treated with Calcitriol in dose of 15μg /kg/mice, 30μg/kg/mice and 60μg/kg/mice respectively. Comparison of antinociception was done using Tail pinch and writhing method. Results: Tail pinch and Writhing methods were used for comparison of antinociceptive activity. In tail pinch model, Calcitriol showed some analgesia at 30 and 60μg/Kg doses, which was more than control but not comparable with the standard Morphine. In writhing method, test doses of Calcitriol (15 and 30μg/Kg) failed to show analgesic efficacy in inflammatory pain but test dose of 60μg/Kg showed some analgesic activity which was not comparable with standard Diclofenac. Conclusions: Antinociception was exhibited at higher doses of Calcitriol by tail pinch method while in writhing method analgesic activity was shown with only 60 μg/Kg dose of Calcitriol. The results obtained from this study needs to be further evaluated by planning extensive animal experimentation. Keywords: Antinociception, Calcitriol, Diclofenac, Tail pinch, Writhing DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20170822 1 Department of Pharmacology, LLRM Medical College, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India 2 Tata Consultancy Services, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India 3 Department of Radiodiagnosis, RPGMC, Tanda, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India Received: 10 January 2017 Accepted: 07 February 2017 *Correspondence to: Dr. Raj Kumar Goel, Email: drrajgoel@yahoo.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open- access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non- Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non- commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.