Anti-inflammatory compounds of the traditional Hungarian medicinal plant Centaurea sadleriana

Abstract

The decoction of the aerial parts of Centaurea sadleriana JANKA (Asteraceae), a plant native to Hungary, is traditionally used to treat the wounds of sheep in the Southern Great Plain region. Phytochemical and pharmacological studies on this plant have not been performed so far. Only we have recently confirmed the wound healing effect of the plant on rats [1]. The objective of the present work was the in vivo and in vitro investigation of the anti-inflammatory effect of C. sadleriana and the isolation and identification of its active compounds. The concentrated methanol extract of aerial parts of C. sadleriana was partitioned using n-hexane and chloroform. These two fractions were further fractionated via VLC and the anti-inflammatory effects of the fractions were studied by in vitro (COX-1, COX-2 and LTB4 formation inhibitory activity) and in vivo (intraperitoneal and oral administration to rats) methods. Some of the fractions gained from the n-hexane extract possessed marked in vitro (70–85% LTB4 formation inhibition, 59–83% COX-1 inhibition, 80–92% COX-2 inhibition at a concentration of 50µg/ml) and in vivo anti-inflammatory effects (25–50% oedema volume reduction). Chromatographic purification (VLC, MPLC, HPLC, preparative TLC, CPC and gel filtration) of the active fractions resulted in the isolation of flavonoids, triterpenoids and lignans. Our present study confirmed the marked anti-inflammatory effect of C. sadleriana which may play role in the ethnomedicinal application of the plant.