In vivo Anti-inflammatory Activities of Marrubium vulgare L. and Marrubium deserti de Noé Species Growing in Algeria

Abstract

Marrubium vulgareL. andMarrubium desertide Noé have been widely used by the local population for wound healing and disinfection. The arial parts of both species were reported to relieve pain and inflammation. However, insufficient data in the literature supports the traditional use of these species. For this, the present study investigated the in vivo anti-inflammatory effects of methanolic extracts prepared fromMarrubium vulgareL. andMarrubium desertileaves in order to confirm their traditional use. The total phenolic and flavonoids content were also measured by Folin– Ciocalteu’s and aluminium chloride methods, respectively. And the anti-inflammatory activity was tested using several in vivo models including: xylene ear edema test, paw edema induced by carrageenan assay and anti-pleuritic test. The results showed that methanol extracts prepared from both species contain many secondary metabolites known for their interesting biological activities. Crude extracts had high levels of polyphenols (195 ± 0.06 mg GAE/g extract; 184 ± 0.78 mg GAE/mg of extract) and flavonoids (93.12 ± 0.17 mg QE/g extract; 28.48 ± 0.40 μg QE/mg of extract) forMarrubium vulgareandMarrubium deserti, respectively. The assessment of anti-inflammatory activity showed that the oral administration of MeOHE at a dose of 200 mg/kg to rats treated with carrageenan causes a significant decrease (87.3 ± 0.25%; 86.4%) of inflammation compared with standard diclofenac (positive control) which showed 85.52 ± 0.47% of protection. In the xylene ear edema test and antipleuretic assay, MeOHE showed significant antiinflammatory activity. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the speciesMarrubium vulgareandMarrubium desertihave potent in vivo anti-inflammatory effects and could constitute an important source of therapeutic agents. However, further biological investigations are required in order to elucidate their mechanisms of action.