Anti-inflammatory activity of Curcuma cf. amada Roxb. 'Wan en Lueang'

Abstract

© Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University (Thailand) 2020. The rhizome of Curcuma cf. amada Roxb. 'Wan en Lueang' (CWeL) was added to the list of Thai household remedy herbal drugs since 2013. It is recommended as one of the main ingredients in recipes for external use to treat muscle pain and physical trauma, which is a complex biological response of body tissues known as inflammation. However, the anti-inflammatory activity of CWeL has not been scientifically proven yet. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of CWeL using ethyl phenylpropiolate (EPP)-induced ear edema in rats. The hexane, deep fried in coconut oil (DF) and the essential oil were prepared. In addition, the chemical constituents of the extracts were investigated by GC-MS. Epicurzerenone, curdione and germacrone are the major constituents in essential oil. The screening analysis of the curcuminoid in the extracts was also evaluated by TLC. Only the DF extract possessed all the bands of the curcuminoids. For the anti-inflammatory test, the results showed that the hexane extract (0.5, 1 and 2 mg/20μl/ear), DF extract (20 μl/ear) and essential oil (50% and 100% /20μl/ear) reduced the rat's ear edema. Among of all extracts, the DF extract showed the highest anti-inflammatory effect with percent inhibition of 67.92, followed by 100% essential oil and 50% essential oil with percent inhibition of 61.53 and 60.35, respectively. In conclusion, the DF extract exhibited a topical anti-inflammatory activity which could be scientific evidence for the traditional use of this plant and the list of the Thai household remedy drug.