Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Investigation of anti-inflammatory lignans from the leaves of Symplocos sumuntia Buch-Ham ex D Don (Symplocaceae)

Tran Thu Huong¹, Le Huyen Tram¹, Tran Thi Minh¹, Nguyen Van Thong¹, Do Hoang Giang², Nguyen Hai Dang³ Nguyen Tien Dat²

¹School of Chemical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 1-Dai Co Viet Road; ²Department of Bioactive Products, Institute of Marine Biochemistry (IMBC), Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST); ³Advanced Center for Bio-organic Chemistry, IMBC, VAST, 18-Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam.

For correspondence:- Nguyen Dat Email: ngtiend@imbc.vast.vn Tel:+84437917053

Accepted: 25 August 2017 Published: 30 September 2017

Citation: Huong TT, Tram LH, Minh TT, Thong NV, Giang DH, Dang NH, et al. Investigation of anti-inflammatory lignans from the leaves of Symplocos sumuntia Buch-Ham ex D Don (Symplocaceae). Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(9):2191-2196 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v16i9.21

© 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 investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of Symplocos sumuntia Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don and identify the main secondary metabolites responsible for this effect.

Methods: The in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of the plant extract and isolated compounds was determined in terms of the ability to inhibit the production of nitric oxide (NO), and expressions of iNOS and COX-2 proteins in RAW264.7 cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Compounds were isolated and identified by spectroscopic methods.

Results: The methanol extract of S. sumuntia leaves showed strong inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production and expression of iNOS and COX-2 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. A phytochemical assay-guided fractionation of the methanol extract of S. sumuntia leaves led to the isolation of four lignans which are arctigenin (1), matairesinol (2), monomethylpinoresinol (3) and pinoresinol (4). These compounds were identified for the first time from S. sumuntia. All four compounds inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO), with arctigenin showing the most potent activity with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) value of 4.08 µM.

Conclusion: S. sumuntia is a promising source of anti-inflammatory agents, which may clarify to the therapeutic use of this plant in Vietamese traditional medicine.

Keywords: Symplocos sumuntia, Symplocos caudata, Lignan, Arctigenin, Anti-inflammatory