Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of cupressuflavone from Cupressus macrocarpa: Impact on pro-inflammatory mediators

Inflammation is a complex biological process that is generally occurs in response to pathological triggers. Both neurodegenerative diseases and cancer have been linked to inflammation. The analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of cupressuflavone (CUF) isolated from Cupressus macrocarpa were examined. The analgesic effects of CUF (40, 80 and 160 mg/kg po) were assessed in the acetic acid-induced writhing and hot plate models in mice with diclofenac sodium as the reference standard (100 mg/kg). CUF dose-dependently inhibited the writhing response in mice by 25, 48, and 62%, at the three CUF doses with 160 mg/kg being equivalent to the diclofenac control. CUF dose-dependently increased the hot plate model reaction time with a maximal effect after 120 min. In the carrageenan-induced paw edema model of inflammation, CUF demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting paw edema by 55, 60, and 64% at doses of 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg po, respectively. CUF also reduced the plasma pro-inflammatory mediators PGE(2) (44, 54, and 58%), TNF- (26, 37, and 53%), IL-1 (19, 33, and 41%), and IL-6 (32, 44, and 55%) at the three doses tested with the highest dose having similar effects to diclofenac sodium (100 mg/kg). This finding from this study indicates that CUF has both analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.