Anti-inflammatory activity of Taraxacum officinale

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology 2008-01, Vol.115 (1), p.82-88
• Main Authors: Jeon, Hye-Jin, Kang, Hyun-Jung, Jung, Hyun-Joo, Kang, Young-Sook, Lim, Chang-Jin, Kim, Young-Myeong, Park, Eun-Hee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Angiogenesis Inhibitors - administration & dosage; Angiogenesis Inhibitors - chemistry; Angiogenesis Inhibitors - pharmacology; Animals; Anti-inflammatory; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - administration & dosage; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - chemistry; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology; Anti-nociceptive; Antioxidant; Antioxidants - administration & dosage; Antioxidants - chemistry; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Chick Embryo; Chorioallantoic Membrane - blood supply; Chorioallantoic Membrane - drug effects; Cyclooxygenase-2; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Free Radicals - metabolism; General pharmacology; Inducible nitric oxide synthase; Leukocytes - drug effects; Leukocytes - metabolism; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine, Traditional; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Nitric oxide; Nitric Oxide - metabolism; Pain - drug therapy; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Plant Extracts - administration & dosage; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reactive oxygen species; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Taraxacum - chemistry; Taraxacum officinale
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2007.09.006

Taraxacum officinale has been widely used as a folkloric medicine for the treatment of diverse diseases. The dried plant was extracted with 70% ethanol to generate its ethanol extract (TEE). For some experiments, ethyl acetate (EA), n-butanol (BuOH) and aqueous (Aq) fractions were prepared in succession from TEE. TEE showed a scavenging activity in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, a diminishing effect on intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, and an anti-angiogenic activity in the chicken chorioallantoic (CAM) assay. In the carrageenan-induced air pouch model, TEE inhibited production of exudate, and significantly diminished nitric oxide (NO) and leukocyte levels in the exudate. It also possessed an inhibitory effect on acetic acid-induced vascular permeability and caused a dose-dependent inhibition on acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing in mice. Suppressive effects of TEE on the production of NO and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages were also assessed. Among the fractions, the n-butanol fraction (BuOH) was identified to be most effective in the CAM assay. Collectively, Taraxacum officinale contains anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities through its inhibition of NO production and COX-2 expression and/or its antioxidative activity.