Moringa oleifera 's Whole Methanolic Extract Attenuates Levels of Pro‐inflammatory Markers in the Cervix of Preterm Labor Mice Models

Abstract

Given that the major cause of preterm birth is microbial infection, here we test the effectiveness of Moringa oleifera whole extract as a potential solution to infection-mediated preterm births based on its anti-inflammatory activities. Initially, non-pregnant mice were treated with different solvents orally followed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) intraperitoneally (i.p.), in order to determine the optimal solvent for anti-inflammatory activities of Moringa oleifera, including methanol, butanol, water, 80% ethanol and 100% ethanol. Methanol was found to block expression of inflammatory markers the most and dose-dependently, and therefore was used in subsequent studies using preterm mice models (day 15 of pregnancy). Following treatments [2 hour pretreatment with Moringa oleifera (4.8 µg/50 µL methanol, oral) followed by 2 hour treatment with LPS (100 µg/50 µL 1X PBS, i.p.)], cervical tissues of pregnant mice were harvested and analyzed using Real-Time PCR and Western Blot to quantify the expression of pro-inflammatory markers, namely cyclooxygenase II (COX-II) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Moringa oleifera whole extract (methanol) decreased expression of both COX II and TNF-α mRNA and protein. We conclude that Moringa oleifera may be used to modulate inflammation-induced preterm labor through the down regulation of pro-inflammatory markers associated with preterm labor, such as COX II and TNF-α. Funding: OSR, Appalachian State University.