title: Ethnopharmacological in vitro studies on Austria's folk medicine--an unexplored lore in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of 71 Austrian traditional herbal drugs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Austria, like in most Western countries, knowledge about traditional medicinal plants is becoming scarce. Searching the literature concerning Austria's ethnomedicine reveals its scant scientific exploration. Aiming to substantiate the potential of medicinal plants traditionally used in Austria, 63 plant species or genera with claimed anti-inflammatory properties listed in the VOLKSMED database were assessed for their in vitro anti-inflammatory activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  71 herbal drugs from 63 plant species or genera were extracted using solvents of varying polarities and subsequently depleted from the bulk constituents, chlorophylls and tannins to avoid possible interferences with the assays. The obtained 257 extracts were assessed for their in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. The expression of the inflammatory mediators E-selectin and interleukin-8 (IL-8), induced by the inflammatory stimuli tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and the bacterial product lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was measured in endothelial cells. The potential of the extracts to activate the nuclear factors PPARα and PPARγ and to inhibit TNF-α-induced activation of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) in HEK293 cells was determined by luciferase reporter gene assays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, extracts from 67 of the 71 assessed herbal drugs revealed anti-inflammatory activity in the applied in vitro test systems. Thereby, 30 could downregulate E-selectin or IL-8 gene expression, 28 were strong activators of PPARα or PPARγ (inducing activation of more than 2-fold at a concentration of 10µg/mL) and 21 evoked a strong inhibition of NF-κB (inhibition of more than 80% at 10µg/mL).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our research supports the efficacy of herbal drugs reported in Austrian folk medicine used for ailments associated with inflammatory processes. Hence, an ethnopharmacological screening approach is a useful tool for the discovery of new drug leads.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vogl
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Picker
authors.forename: Judit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mihaly-Bison
authors.forename: Nanang
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fakhrudin
authors.forename: Atanas G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Atanasov
authors.forename: Elke H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Heiss
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wawrosch
authors.forename: Gottfried
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reznicek
authors.forename: Verena M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Dirsch
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saukel
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kopp
mesh_terms: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001317:Austria; D016208:Databases, Factual; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000145:classification*
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Austria; E-selectin; IL-8; Inflammation; NF-ĸB; PPAR; Traditional European medicine (TEM)