POTENTIAL OF Navicula salinicola EXTRACT, A MICROALGAE FROM MALUKU ISLANDS, AS AN ANTIINFLAMMATORY AGENT USING THE HUMAN RED BLOOD CELLS (HRBC) METHOD

Abstract

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state, with rich maritime biodiversity that includes microalgae. Microalgae contain various therapeutic components (i.e., anti-inflammatory) that have shown great potential to be used for human health and medicine. Navicula salinicola is a new species of microalgae discovered in the Maluku Islands marine environment in Indonesia. There have been no publications yet related to the potential content of compounds from these microalgae for anti-inflammatory purposes. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of extracts of the microalgae Navicula salinicola. The Navicula salinicola was cultivated in optimum conditions after 7 days. The extraction was performed using the hierarchical maceration method with n-hexane, chloroform, and 96 percent ethanol. The extract's anti-inflammatory properties were evaluated using the Human Red Blood Cell (HRBC) stability method, and Na-diclofenac was used as a control. The results showed the n-hexane, chloroform, and ethanol extracts were able to inhibit red blood cell hemolysis with IC50 values of 154.905 ± 0.056, 80.395 ± 0.372, and 106.915 ± 0.153 %, respectively (IC50 for Na-diclofenac was 54.128 ± 0.033%). Identification of active compounds by using Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) for the chloroform extract, the highest hemolysis inhibitory activity, showed that its containing alkaloid, phenolic, flavonoid, steroid, and terpenoid. In conclusion, the chloroform extract of Navicula salinicola had potent anti-inflammatory activity