WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants - travolekar.ru

<strong>WHO</strong> <strong>monographs</strong> on selected medicinal plants
Anti-inflammatory activity
The anti-inflammatory activity of an aqueous extract of the crude drug
was assessed in vivo. The extract significantly inhibited both the maximal
oedema response and the total oedema response during 6 hours of carrageenan-induced
rat paw oedema (31). Intragastric administration of the
gum or an aqueous methanol extract of the gum (9:1) to rats, at a dose of
50.0–200.0 mg/kg bw reduced carrageenan- or adjuvant-induced pedal
oedema by 34–73% (26, 32). An ethanol extract of the crude drug, administered
at a dose of 50.0–200.0 mg/kg bw, exhibited anti-inflammatory
activity in carrageenan-induced oedema in rats and mice and dextran-induced
oedema in rats (28). The extract also had considerable anti-arthritic
activity but no significant effect was observed in the cotton pellet-induced
granuloma test. Treatment with the extract inhibited inflammation-induced
increase in serum transaminase levels and leukocyte counts, but
lacked any analgesic or antipyretic effects in rats (28).
The anti-inflammatory effects of the crude drug and boswellic acids
were assessed in rats with adjuvant-induced arthritis. The animals were
treated with 100.0 mg/kg bw of the crude drug or 200.0 mg/kg bw of boswellic
acid administered by gastric lavage for 2 weeks (33). The activity of
-glucuronidase was used to assess lysosomal stability, which is an important
factor in the arthritic syndrome. Induction of arthritis reduced
lysosome stability, but treatment with either the extract or boswellic acid
increased stability and had a protective effect on lysosomal integrity (33).
Specific boswellic acids inhibit elastase in leukocytes, inhibit proliferation,
induce apoptosis and inhibit topoisomerases of leukaemia and glioma
cell lines (23).
A methanol extract of the crude drug, containing boswellic acids and
their structural derivatives, was applied topically to the backs of mice to
determine its anti-inflammatory effects (23). The treatment markedly inhibited
12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced skin inflammation,
epidermal proliferation, the number of epidermal cell layers and tumour
promotion in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-initiated mice.
Feeding 0.2% of crude drug in the diet to CF-1 mice for 10–24 weeks
reduced the accumulation of parametrial fat pad weight under the abdomen,
and inhibited azoxymethane-induced formation of aberrant crypt
foci by 46% (22).
Boswellic acids (15.0 μg/ml) inhibit the biosynthesis of the pro-inflammatory
leukotrienes in neutrophilic granulocytes by a non-redox, noncompetitive
inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase, an enzyme in the pro-inflammatory
arachidonic acid cascade (34–36). The extract and its derivatives
caused a concentration-dependent decrease in the formation of leukotriene
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