Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Anti-inflammatory effect of methanol extracts of hemp leaf in IL-1^6;-induced synovitis

Natthachai Duangnin^1,2, Jeerawan Klangjorhor¹, Prapatsorn Tipparat², Sarita Pinmanee³, Thanyaluck Phitak¹, Peraphan Pothacharoen¹, Prachya Kongtawelert¹

¹Thailand Excellence Center for Tissue Engineering and Stem Cells, Chiang Mai University; ²The 1st Regional Medical Sciences Center Chiang Mai; ³Highland Research and Development Institute (Public Organization), Chiang Mai, Thailand.

For correspondence:- Prachya Kongtawelert Email: prachya.kongtawelert@gmail.com Tel:+6653894188

Received: 10 March 2017 Accepted: 16 June 2017 Published: 31 July 2017

Citation: Duangnin N, Klangjorhor J, Tipparat P, Pinmanee S, Phitak T, Pothacharoen P, et al. Anti-inflammatory effect of methanol extracts of hemp leaf in IL-1^6;-induced synovitis. Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(7):1553-1563 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v16i7.13

© 2017 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the effectiveness of some hemp (Canabis sativa) leaf extracts as an anti-inflammatory agent on synovitis in vitro.

Methods: Synovial fibroblast cell line SW982 was induced with 5 ng/mL of interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β) to trigger cellular inflammation. The cells were then treated with prepared extracts of hemp (Canabis sativa) leaf originating from three different cultivation sites with varying proportions of terpenoids and cannabinoids, especially cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production as well as expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and IL-1β genes were determined.

Results: All hemp extracts reduced the production of NO and PGE2 in a dose-dependent manner. The expressions of iNOS, COX-2 and IL-1β genes were significantly decreased by the hemp extracts. This effect was likely related to the amount of sesquiterpenoids and THC. The extract from Huai Hoi (HH) cultivar showed the most promising results for further studies.

Conclusion: The extracts of hemp leaf substantially reduces the level of biomarkers for inflammation in vitro. Therefore, the extracts have a potential application as an inflammatory counteractant in synovitis.

Keywords: Canabis sativa, Hemp, Synovitis, Cannabinoids, Nitric oxide, Interleukin-1 beta