ABSTRACT
The analgesic activity of Artemisia sieberi oil was assessed by acetic acid-induced writhing test and Eddy's hot plate method; while the acute anti-inflammatory effect was investigated by inflammatory paw edema test in rats. The administration rout of the essential oil, standard drugs and the vehicle used in all assays was intraperitoneal injection. The 1 and 2.5 mg/kg doses of the studied oil significantly decreased the number of acetic acid-induced writhes in mice. The dose of 1 mg/kg of the oil also exhibited a central analgesic effect as evidenced by a significant increase in reaction time at several time points after 15 min treatment in the hot plate method. In addition, the 1 mg/kg dose of the oil significantly reduced carrageenan induced paw edema in rats at the first hour of the test by 72.7% inhibition and lasted to the third hour of the test by 74.3% inhibition found to be very close to that of the standard drug, diclofenac sodium (50 mg/kg). The major components of the oil were characterized as camphor (31.2%) and 1,8-cineole (20.0%). The results suggest that A. sieberi essential oil has a significant effect against acute inflammation and has central and peripheral anti-nociceptive effects.
ABSTRACT
Abstract Angiogenesis plays a key role in tumor growth, invasion and metastasis of cancer diseases and therefore, the inhibition of angiogenesis can provide an important therapeutic approach in cancer diseases. This study was designed to compare the anti-angiogenic activities of the ethanolic extract of Artemisia sieberi Besser, Asteraceae, and its active substance, artemisinin in both in vitro and in vivo models. To compare cytotoxicity level of ethanolic extract of A. sieberi with artemisinin, different concentrations (1–100 µg/ml) were tested using MTT assay on human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The anti-angiogenic properties of serial concentrations of ethanolic extract of A. sieberi and artemisinin were examined on human umbilical vein endothelial cells using a three-dimensional angiogenesis assay (in vitro model) and in the chick chorioallantoic membrane assay as in vivo model. The effects of ethanolic extract of A. sieberi and artemisinin were also tested on the expression of VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and CD34 genes using real-time PCR. Ethanolic extract of A. sieberi and artemisinin significantly (p < 0.001) inhibited the angiogenesis in the human umbilical vein endothelial cells culture whilst the ethanolic extract of A. sieberi showed higher effect in a concentration-dependent fashion (p < 0.001). The chick chorioallantoic membrane angiogenesis was also completely inhibited by ethanolic extract of A. sieberi at concentration of 33 ng/100 µl/egg. The gene expression analysis showed that the ethanolic extract of A. sieberi and artemisinin reduced the transcription of VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and CD34 genes in a concentration-dependent manner. This study demonstrated that the ethanolic extract of A. sieberi is strongly able to inhibit the angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and chick chorioallantoic membrane models compared to the artemisinin.