The pharmacological interaction between tramadol and meloxicam on the level of peripheral and visceral analgesia in mice

The combined effect of tramadol and meloxicam on peripheral and visceral analgesia were the main focus of this study evaluation of the pharmacological interaction between the two drugs in mice. Using the up-and-down approach, the median effective analgesic doses (ED50) were found to be 17.2 mg/kg for intraperitoneal tramadol and 3.26 mg/kg for intramuscular meloxicam. When the medications were mixed at a 1:1 ratio of their ED50 values, isobolographic analysis showed a synergistic effect (Y = 0.92), with tramadol and meloxicam doses being reduced by 56.3% and 51.8%, respectively. The combination outperformed the effects of either medication alone (tramadol: 65%; meloxicam: 55%) in the acetic acid-induced writhing test, producing full analgesia (100% writhing inhibition) when compared to the control group. These results show that tramadol and meloxicam work together to improve antinociception, supporting their combined use for multimodal pain management.