Anti-Allergy Potential of Averrhoa bilimbi Linn. Fruit Water Extract Shown by Its Suppressive Effect on the Degranulation of RBL-2H3 Cells

Abstract

Allergy rhinitis (AR), as reported by the World Allergy Organization (WAO), is one of the highest prevalence allergies affecting 10-30% of all adults and up to 40% of children. In Indonesia, current evidence showed that the prevalence of AR is increasing. Averrhoa bilimbi Linn. fruit (AF), or locally known as belimbing wuluh, has been scientifically proven to treat many diseases due to the abundant of polyphenol content which was shown to have the potential to treat allergies. Therefore, this study was aimed to investigate the anti-allergy potential of AF in vitro. The anti-allergy effect of Averrhoa bilimbi Linn. fruit water extract (AFWE) was examined using RBL-2H3 cells. At first, the cytotoxicity effect of AFWE was determined by WST-8 assay. The release of β-hexosaminidase by RBL-2H3 cells was also measured to evaluate degranulation suppression activity of AFWE. Lastly, calcium assay was employed to investigate the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca­2+]i). Results demonstrated that AFWE does not show any cytotoxicity at any given concentration. In addition, AFWE at 1.25 mg/mL showed sufficient inhibitory effect towards degranulation by RBL-2H3 cells. Moreover, the degranulation-suppressing activity of AFWE was resulted from the inhibition of calcium-dependent signaling pathways. Unfortunately, the properties of active substances from AFWE have not been investigated. To conclude, this study indicated that AFWE has potential as an alternative treatment for allergic diseases.

Black garlic: A review of its biological significance

“…A study was done by Kim, Nam, Rico, & Kang (2012). It is demonstrated that extracts obtained by 70% ethanol from raw and black garlic bulbs exhibited an anti‐allergic effect on rats' basophilic leukemia cells (RBL‐2H3) by inhibiting β‐hexosaminidase (Santoso, Ishida, Nishi, Sugahara, & Putra, 2021). Ethyl acetate extract of BG also has an anti‐allergic impact on immunoglobulin E‐induced allergy reaction to the RBL‐2H3 cells (Yoo, Park, Cho, & Ma, 2019).…”

“…A study was done by Kim, Nam, Rico, & Kang (2012). It is demonstrated that extracts obtained by 70% ethanol from raw and black garlic bulbs exhibited an anti-allergic effect on rats' basophilic leukemia cells (RBL-2H3) by inhibiting βhexosaminidase (Santoso, Ishida, Nishi, Sugahara, & Putra, 2021).…”