Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities of Inula Viscosa and Senecio Anteuphorbium

The present study is focused on the evaluation of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of aqueous extract from the leaves of I. viscosa and the stems of S. anteuphorbium. The anti-inflammatory activity of these plants was studied both in vitro on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated J774A.1 mouse macrophages and in vivo using carrageenan-induced paw edema in mice. The antioxidant activitrty of extracts was studied using two in vitro model systems (DPPH· radical-scavenging assay and ABTS+· assay) and their chemical profiles were investigated. The pre-treatment of J774A.1 cells with S. anteuphorbium aqueous extract (SAAE) and I. viscosa aqueous extract (IVAE) decrease nitric oxide (NO) production and inhibited the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in a dose-dependent manner, while the expression of toll-like receptor 4, myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 and tumor necrosis factor alpha were not affected. The protective anti-inflammatory effect of SAAE and IVAE at an oral dose of 200 mg/kg was also confirmed in vivo. They significantly reduced paw edema after 3 and 6 h of carrageenan stimulation, resperctively. IVAE exhibited a high antioxidant activity and contained high total levels of polyphenols and flavonoids. The major compounds identified in the extract derived from IVAE were tementosin, 3 α-hydroxycostic acid and hydroxycoumarins, and might involve in these effects. This study is the first to report the anti-inflammatory potential of SAAE and IVAE both in vivo and in vitro. The effect demonstrated in vitro may be explained by the inhibition of the LPS-induced NO production through the inhibition of iNOS expression.