PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIINFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF NELUMBO NUCIFERA GAERTN

Abstract

Objective: Inflammation is a process of injuries caused by physical, chemical, and biological factors. Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in theregulation of various pathological and pathophysiological processes. Overproduction of NO induces tissue damage associated with acute and chronicinflammations. This study was conducted to determine the phytochemical composition and the NO inhibitory properties of Nelumbo nucifera extractsin lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-stimulated macrophage cell line.Methods: The dried leaf, stalk, and flower materials of roseum plenum and album plenum (AP) were extracted with 95% ethanol solvents. Thephytochemical compounds of the extraction were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The cytotoxic assay of extracts againstmacrophage cells was conducted using resazurin. The NO was determined using LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells to measure inhibitory activity of extracton the production of NO.Results: The extracts from Lotus, which exhibited the non-cytotoxic to the RAW264.7 cells. The AP-stalk extracts were capable to reduce the NO levelin LPS-activated RAW264.7 cells. GC-MS analysis of AP-stalk extraction revealed pharmacologically active compounds.Conclusion: The results conduct that the AP-stalk extract effectively inhibited the NO production and may be useful in preventing inflammatorydiseases mediated by excessive production of NO. Bio-active phytoconstituents from AP stalk extract could potentially be used for anti-inflammation.These data also suggest that AP-stalk extract may serve as a good indicator of the pharmacological activities of medicinal plants.