Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activity of Vaccinium bracteatum

Abstract

Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb. is a shrub growing in undulating countries of China, Japan and Korea [1]. It is used in the traditional Chinese medicine for its anti-tumor properties [2]. We tested extracts from leaves of V. bracteatum obtained by successive maceration by n-hexane (HE), dichloromethane (DE), methanol (ME) and water (WE) for its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative potentials. Anti-inflammatory effect was assessed in vitro as an ability to reduce production of prostaglandin E2 by cycloxygenase-1 and -2 (COX-1, COX-2) detected by PGE2 EIA Kit [3]. Anti-oxidative activity was evaluated in vitro using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method. We observed that HE was the most potent inhibitor of COX-1 (100% inhibition of blank) and WE of COX-2 (98% inhibition of blank) with activities comparable to the standard inhibitor indomethacin tested in a concentration 300µg/ml (100% inhibition of blank). Only ME and WE exhibited significant anti-oxidative activity with EC50 values 32.7 and 123.2µg/ml, respectively. The reference compounds trolox and ascorbic acid had an EC50 of 2.9 and 0.5µg/ml, respectively. These preliminary results show good potential of V. bracteatum as a source of anti-inflammatory compounds. Acknowledgement: This study was supported by project ME08070. References: [1] Tu, P. et al. (1997) Zhong Yao. Cai. 22:423–448. [2] Duke, J.A., Ayensu, E.S. (1985) Medicinal Plants of China, Reference Publ., Inc., Algonac, US. [3] Knodler, M. et al. (2008) Phytochemistry 69:988–993.