ABSTRACT
Tanglad, or lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) has been traditionally used as poultice or diluted essential oil in the alleviation of rheumatism, pain, joint stiffness, and sore muscles. However, this anti-inflammatory effect is yet to be tested experimentally Twenty-five mice were randomly assigned to receive high (57.04 g/kg), medium (28.59 g/kg), and low (14.33 g/kg) doses of tanglad extract by oral gavage for both the carrageenan-induced mice paw edema and the cotton pellet granuloma models of inflammation Carrageenan-induced mice paw edema. Carrageenan (1 percent) was injected to the right paw of the mice 30 minutes after the administration of the tanglad extract. Edema formation was determined every 30 minutes for 3 hours using a plethysmometer Cotton pellet granuloma. Cotton pellets were implanted in the right groin area of anesthetized rats. Tanglad extract was administered through oral gavage daily for seven days. On the eighth day, the rats were sacrificed and cotton pellets were retrieved. Both the wet and dry weights were determined Carrageenan-induced mice paw edema. Significantly, the medium dose group had the least mean edema formation (19.82 +/- 0.32) and the greatest percent inhibition (60.13 percent) over the span of 3 hours among the three tanglad treatments. Inversely, the low dose had the greatest mean edema formation (70.84 +/- 0.34) and least percent inhibition among all groups (-49.39 percent), including the negative control. The positive control had the greatest anti-inflammatory effect (9.61 +/- 0.27, 80.67) therefore exhibiting the highest percent inhibition and lowest edema formation as expected. The values obtained revealed a significant difference (at p0.001) between the positive control, high dose, and medium dose groups against the negative control group. A time-dependent pattern were also observed from the test doses Cotton pellet granuloma. Aspirin group possessed the highest anti-inflammatory activity among all the test groups. with the lowest granuloma weights for both wet (24.53 mg) and dry (8.46 mg). The high dose group (wet weight=39.25mg; dry weight=27.21mg) and medium dose group (wet weight=41.25mg; dry weight=25.77mg) had similar anti-inflammatory activities that were statistically significant (p0.05 for dry weight and p0.01 for wet weight). The low dose group had the highest granuloma formation in both the wet (63.25mg) and dry (34.46mg) weights and was not significant different from the negative control This study was able to demonstrate that the aqueous extract of tanglad (Cymbopogon citratus) possesses an activity against both the acute and chronic forms of inflammation in mice and rats. Compared with aspirin (ASA), tanglad extract exhibited a lesser degree of anti-inflammatory activity. Its inhibition of acute inflammation, through the reduction of edema formation, is both time- and dose-dependent. On the other hand, chronic inflammatory reaction, manifested by granuloma formation, is reduced dose-dependently. (Author)
ABSTRACT
Angiogenesis inhibition is one of the fast developing approaches against tumor proliferation and metastasis. The angiogenesis-inhibition property of naturally-occuring peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor (PPAR) ligands, particularly of linoleic and linolenic acids that are present in commercially available soy bean oil, was investigated using chrorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. Human recombinant fibroblast growth factor (rhFGF) was utilized to stimulate human growth conditions on the CAM. Three groups consisting of 20 eggs each were treated with gelatin sponges containing: (1) rhFGF alone, the negative control; (2) soy bean oil and rhFGF, the treatment group; and. (3) rosiglitazone and rhFGF, the positive control. After incubation for 5 days, both macroscopic and microscopic methods of counting were employed. The treatment group demonstrated inhibition although it did not differ significantly from the negative control group (a=0.05, df=35, tcr=2.03, t=1.92). (Author)