Anti-inflammatory activity of erycristagallin, a pterocarpene from Erythrina mildbraedii

• Published in: European journal of pharmacology Vol. 468; no. 1; pp. 67 - 74
• Main Authors: Njamen, Dieudonné, Talla, Emmanuel, Mbafor, Joseph Tanyi, Fomum, Zacharias Tanee, Kamanyi, Albert, Mbanya, Jean-Claude, Cerdá-Nicolás, Miguel, Giner, Rosa M., Recio, M.Carmen, Rı́os, José Luis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 02-05-2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: 5-Lipoxygenase inhibition; Animals; Anti-inflammatory activity; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - isolation & purification; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology; Antioxidants - isolation & purification; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Arachidonic Acid - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Biphenyl Compounds; Carrageenan; Ear - pathology; Edema - chemically induced; Edema - drug therapy; Erycristagallin; Erythrina - chemistry; Erythrina mildbraedii; Female; Free Radical Scavengers - pharmacology; Heterocyclic Compounds, 4 or More Rings; Hindlimb - pathology; Isoflavones - isolation & purification; Isoflavones - pharmacology; Leukotriene B4 - metabolism; Medical sciences; Mice; Phospholipases A; Picrates - metabolism; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Wistar; 5-Lipoxygenase inhibition; Erythrina mildbraedii; Arachidonic acid metabolism; Anti-inflammatory activity; Erycristagallin
• ISSN: 0014-2999; 1879-0712
• DOI: 10.1016/S0014-2999(03)01664-9

Erycristagallin, a pterocarpene isolated from
Erythrina mildbraedii, was tested in vitro for its antioxidant properties on the stable 2,2-diphenyl-1-pycryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and on the arachidonic acid metabolism. In addition, erycristagallin was tested on different experimental models of inflammation, such as the acute and chronic inflammation induced by the application of 12-
O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) on mice and the phospholipase A
2-induced mouse paw oedema test. In the carrageenan-induced mouse paw oedema test, the ethyl acetate extract obtained from
E. mildbraedii showed anti-inflammatory activity, and erycristagallin was isolated as the active principle. In vivo, erycristagallin significantly inhibited the phospholipase A
2-induced mouse paw oedema as well as the mouse ear oedema induced by TPA (ID
50<10 μg/ear). Moreover, it significantly reduced the chronic inflammation and leukocyte infiltration induced by repeated application of TPA. In vitro, erycristagallin inhibited the arachidonic acid metabolism via the 5-lipoxygenase pathway in rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes (IC
50=23.4 μM), but had no effect on cyclooxygenase-1 metabolism in human platelets, while showing antioxidant activity in the DPPH test. As with other phenolics, the anti-inflammatory activity of erycristagallin may be based on its capacity to inhibit the arachidonic acid metabolism via the 5-lipoxygenase pathway.