Anti-inflammatory and bronchodilatory constituents of leaf extracts of Anacardium occidentale L. in animal models
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Date
2017
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Publisher
Elsevier Limited, Oxford, UK, for Shanghai Association of Integrative Medicine and Shanghai Changhai Hospital, China.
Abstract
Objective: Anacardium occidentale L. leaf is useful in the treatment of inflammation and asthma, but the
bioactive constituents responsible for these activities have not been characterized. Therefore, this study
was aimed at identifying the bioactive constituent(s) of A. occidentale ethanolic leaf extract (AOEL) and its
solvent-soluble portions, and evaluating their effects on histamine-induced paw edema and bronchoconstriction.
Methods: The bronchodilatory effect was determined by measuring the percentage protection provided
by plant extracts in the histamine-induced bronchoconstriction model in guinea pigs. The antiinflammatory
effect of the extracts on histamine-induced paw edema in rats was determined by measuring
the increase in paw diameter, after which the percent edema inhibition was calculated. The extracts
were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the bioactive constituents.
Column chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used respectively to isolate
and characterize the constituents. The bronchodilatory and anti-inflammatory activities of the isolated
bioactive constituent were evaluated.
Results: Histamine induced bronchoconstriction in the guinea pigs and edema in the rat paw. AOEL,
hexane-soluble portion of AOEL, ethyl acetate-soluble portion of AOEL, and chloroform-soluble portion
of AOEL significantly increased bronchodilatory and anti-inflammatory activities (P < 0.05). Oleamide
(9-octadecenamide) was identified as the most abundant compound in the extracts and was isolated.
Oleamide significantly increased bronchodilatory and anti-inflammatory activities by 32.97% and
98.41%, respectively (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: These results indicate that oleamide is one of the bioactive constituents responsible for the
bronchodilatory and anti-inflammatory activity of A. occidentale leaf, and can therefore be employed in
the management of bronchoconstriction and inflammation.
Description
Keywords
Anacardium occidentale L., Bioactive constituent, Oleamide, Bronchodilatory, Anti-inflammatory, Asthma