Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of ethanolic extract and two limonoids from Melia toosendan fruit.
OBJECTIVE
The fruit of Melia toosendan Sieb. et Zucc. (MTF) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of stomachache and many acute or chronic inflammations, as well as ascariasis. This paper aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the MTF extract and two main limonoid-type triterpenoids isolated from MTF.


METHODS
The ethanolic extract of MTF and two limonoids, isotoosendanin (1) and 1-O-tigloyl-1-O-debenzoylohchinal (2) were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities. Acetic acid-induced vascular permeability and lambda-carrageenan-induced hind paw edema tests in mice were used to investigate anti-inflammatory activity; and acetic acid-induced writhing and hot-plate tests in mice were used to determine analgesic effect.


RESULTS
Both the ethanolic extract and two limonoids displayed significant anti-inflammatory effects. Although the ethanolic extract showed remarkable analgesic effects in both writhing and hot-plate tests, the two limonoids had analgesic effects just in writhing test.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggested that the ethanolic extract of MTF had obvious anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities, and the two limonoids were the active constituents contributing to the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of MTF.
Xie
Fan
F
Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicines (China Pharmaceutical University), Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210038, PR China; Research Department of Pharmacognosy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210038, PR China.
Zhang
Mian
M
Zhang
Chao-Feng
CF
Wang
Zheng-Tao
ZT
Yu
Bo-Yang
BY
Kou
Jun-Ping
JP
D019342:Acetic Acid; D000700:Analgesics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002199:Capillary Permeability / Q000187:drug effects; D002351:Carrageenan; D004487:Edema / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control; D000431:Ethanol; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D036701:Limonins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D031585:Melia / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012997:Solvents
D000700:Analgesics; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D036701:Limonins; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents; D000431:Ethanol; D002351:Carrageenan; D019342:Acetic Acid