IN VITRO ASSESSMENT OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF THE COPAIFERA RETICULATA OILRESIN AND ITS CHEMICAL CONSTITUENT, POLIALTIC ACID

Copaifera reticulata occurs in fields and grasslands in the northern and northeastern parts of Brazil. The oilresin of this species is used in folk medicine mainly due to its healing and anti-inflammatory action, .This study aimed to assess the anti-inflammatory activity of C. reticulata oleoresin and its major compound, polialtic acid by quantifying nitric oxide (NO) in macrophage cultures (RAW 264.7 cells). RAW 264.7 cell (5.0 x 104 cell/well) were seeded in 96-well plates and allowed to adhere for 24 h. Quantification of nitrite production was performed using the Griess method following challenge of cells with 1 µg/ml lipopolysaccharid (LPS) in the presence different concentrations of C. reticulata oil (10, 20 and 40 µg/mL) and polialtic acid (5, 10 and 20 µg/mL) for 24 h. Cell culture supernatants were equally mixed with Griess reagent, incubated for 5 min at room temperature and analysed by spectrophotometry (550 nm). The result showed that the cell cultures treated with natural products had significantly lower amount of NO compared to those treated with LPS. Therefore, C. reticulata oilresin and the polialtic acid revealed anti-inflammatory activity under the conditions used in this study.