Evidence of anti-inflammatory effect and percutaneous penetration of a topically applied fish oil preparation: a photoacoustic spectroscopy study.

This paper investigates the topical anti-inflammatory effect of a fish oil preparation (FOP) in a croton oil (CO) model of skin inflammation. The photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) was applied to estimate the percutaneous penetration of the FOP and as a model to evaluate the topical inflammatory response. After applying CO, the groups of mice received a topical application of a FOP on the left ear. The right ear received the vehicle that was used to dilute the CO. After 6 h, ear tissue was collected to determine the percent inhibition of edema, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and cytokine levels and to perform PAS measurements. Treatment with FOP reduced edema and MPO activity, which was at least partially attributed to a decrease in the levels of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin- 1 ? , interleukin-6, keratinocyte-derived chemokine, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. The topically applied FOP penetrated into the tissue and decreased the area of the bands that characterize inflamed tissue. The present results demonstrated the topical anti-inflammatory effect of the FOP. PAS suggests that FOP anti-inflammatory activity is linked with its ability to penetrate through the skin.

Acute toxicity, antiedematogenic activity, and chemical constituents of Palicourea rigida Kunth.

The phytochemical study of the leaves, roots, and flowers of Palicourea rigida led to the isolation of the triterpenes betulinic acid (1) and lupeol (2), the diterpene phytol (3), and the iridoid glycosides sweroside (4) and secoxyloganin (5). These compounds were identified using NMR 1H and 13C and comparing the spectra with published data. We studied the antiedematogenic activity of crude extracts from the organs, and of different fractions, in mice and found that the n-hexane fraction of the leaf extract significantly inhibited the ear edema resulting from croton oil administration. The crude extract from leaves was not acutely toxic to the mice.