Conclusions
In general, these results suggest that the proprietary herbal extract titred in verbascoside and aucubin is safe and may possess significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects by acting as a specific COX-2 inhibitor. Further studies are required to confirm the clinical efficacy of the extract.
Material and methods
Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in natural compounds as promising alternatives to synthetic COX-2 inhibitors. In this study, we sought to investigate the effect of a proprietary herbal extract from Lippia citriodora and Plantago lanceolata, titred in verbascoside (≥ 5%) and aucubin (≥ 2%), against LPS-stimulated expressions of COX-2 in human neutrophils using both reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and a PGE2 immunoassay.
Methods
Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in natural compounds as promising alternatives to synthetic COX-2 inhibitors. In this study, we sought to investigate the effect of a proprietary herbal extract from Lippia citriodora and Plantago lanceolata, titred in verbascoside (≥ 5%) and aucubin (≥ 2%), against LPS-stimulated expressions of COX-2 in human neutrophils using both reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and a PGE2 immunoassay.
Results
Our main results indicated that: 1. The proprietary herbal extract titred in verbascoside and aucubin is not significantly cytotoxic as shown by the MTT assay; 2. The extract does not significantly inhibit COX-1, whereas it is able to suppress LPS-elicited COX-2 hyperexpression at the mRNA level in human neutrophils; and 3. The effect of the extract at 5% concentration was comparable to that elicited celecoxib 1%, although, in terms of absolute and relative reduction of COX-2 mRNA expression and production of PGE2 in human neutrophils, the drug significantly outperformed the extract. Conclusions: In general, these results suggest that the proprietary herbal extract titred in verbascoside and aucubin is safe and may possess significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects by acting as a specific COX-2 inhibitor. Further studies are required to confirm the clinical efficacy of the extract.