Abstract
BackgroundMahanintangtong is listed in the Thailand’s National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). It is used to treat non-specific fevers and illnesses such as pharyngitis and chickenpox. In this study, we investigated the biological activities of the different medicinal plants used in the Mahanintangtong formula.MethodsThe plant materials were extracted by maceration and decoction. Antimicrobial activity, assessed by disc diffusion method, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were compared with commercially available standard antibiotics. To elucidate the anti-inflammatory mechanisms, inhibition of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) production was tested by Griess and ELISA techniques. Antioxidant activity was measured by ABTS and DPPH scavenging assays.ResultsThe extracts with the best antimicrobial activities were carbonized Tectona grandis showing against Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The ethanol extract of Dracaena loureiroi wood exhibited the highest NO and IL-6 inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 9.42 ± 1.81 and 12.02 ± 0.30 μg/mL, respectively. The ethanol extract of Pogostemon cablin had the highest TNF-α inhibitory with IC50 values of 10.68 ± 0.02 μg/mL. In anti-free radical testing, the ethanol extract of D. loureiroi displayed high antioxidant activity by both ABTS and DPPH assays.ConclusionThe ethanol extracts from carbonized T. grandis and Mahanintangtong showed good antimicrobial activity, especially against S. pyogenes, and good anti-inflammatory activity. These findings are relevant to the pathogenesis of pharyngitis and justify additional studies to see if Mahanintangtong could have clinical utility.
Highlights
Mahanintangtong is listed in the Thailand’s National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM)
Hydrochloric acid and isopropanol were obtained from RCI Labscan, Thailand; Phosphatebuffered saline (PBS) was provided by Biochrom, Germany and mouse tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) ELISA kits were purchased from ImmunoTools, Germany
Antimicrobial assay The antimicrobial activities of ethanol and water extracts were tested on all the ATCC bacteria and C. albicans using the disc diffusion assay, which was assessed by the presence and absence of inhibition zones
Summary
Mahanintangtong is listed in the Thailand’s National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). It is used to treat non-specific fevers and illnesses such as pharyngitis and chickenpox. We investigated the biological activities of the different medicinal plants used in the Mahanintangtong formula. One of the first defenses against infection is a host-mounted inflammatory response involving a variety of cytokines and chemokines which both trigger and/or enhance the specific inflammatory response [2]. Inflammation is a complex process that is coordinated by cytokines and immune signalling molecules [3]. The concept of the immune signalling which induces fever during infection and inflammation has been widely accepted. The well-identified pathways of inflammation are either activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or by key cytokines such as IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α and others. Other putative endogenous mediators like lipocortin-1 are involved in fever [4, 5]
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