Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Momordica Charantia in Sepsis Mice

Abstract

Wild bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L. var. abbreviate Seringe), a common vegetable in Asia, is used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases, including inflammation. Extant literature indicates that wild bitter gourds have components that activate PPARα and PPARγ. This research probed the influence of adding wild bitter gourd to diets on inflammation responses in mice with sepsis induced by intraperitoneal injection of LPS. Male BALB/c mice were divided normal, sepsis, positive control, and three experimental groups. The latter ate diets with low (1%), moderate (2%), and high (10%) ratios of wild bitter gourd lyophilized powder. Before mice were sacrificed, with the exception of the normal group, intraperitoneal injection of LPS induced sepsis in each group; positive control group was injected with LPS after PDTC. This experiment revealed starkly lower weights in groups with added wild bitter gourd than those of the remaining groups. Blood lipids (TG, cholesterol, and NEFA) were also lower in comparison to the sepsis group, and blood glucose concentrations recovered and approached normal levels. Blood OPEN ACCESS Molecules 2014, 1912778 biochemistry values related to inflammation reactions indicated GOT, GPT, C-RP, and NO concentrations of groups with added wild bitter gourd were all lower than those of the sepsis group. Secretion levels of the spleen pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α tallied significantly lower in comparison to the sepsis group, whereas secretion levels of IL-10 anti-inflammatory cytokine increased. Expression level of proteins NF-κB, iNOS, and COX-2 were significantly inhibited. Results indicate wild bitter gourd in diets promoted lipid metabolism, reducing fat accumulation, and improving low blood glucose in sepsis. Addition of wild bitter gourd can reduce inflammation biochemical markers or indicators and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the body, hence improving the inflammation responses in mice with sepsis.

Bitter melon: a panacea for inflammation and cancer

“…Various extracts of MC are studied for biological activities, including anti-oxidant [15] , anti-diabetic [16] , anti-cancer [17] , anti-inflammatory [18] , anti-bacterial [19] , antifungal [20] , anti-viral [21] , anti-HIV [22] , anti-helminthic [23] , anti-mycobac-terial [24] , hypotensive [25] , anti-obesity [26] , immunomodulatory [27] , anti-hyperlipidemic [28] , hepatoprotective [29] , and neuropro-tective [30] activities. Several chemical constituents such as cucurbitane type triterpenoids, cucurbitane type glycosides, triterpene saponins, phenolic, and flavonoid compounds, and some protein fractions have been isolated from MC [31] .…”

Phytochemical profile and biological activities of Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae): A review

“…Among the plant species traditionally used for the control of inflammatory diseases, M. charantia can be highlighted. M. charantia was found to improve the biological responses against inflammation in rats with sepsis (Chao et al, 2014). Other authors also report the anti-inflammatory activity of this plant (Nagarani et al, 2014;and Liaw et al, 2015).…”

Fermented bitter gourd extract differentially regulates lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine gene expression through nuclear factor-κB and interferon regulatory factor-1

“…Bitter gourd extract also exhibited an anti-inflammatory effect in an LPS-induced sepsis model. Oral administration of the extract resulted in suppression of pro-inflammatory mediators (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, iNOS, and COX-2) with a concomitant increase in the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 (Chao et al 2014). Furthermore, bitter gourd was demonstrated to attenuate oxidative stress and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines from the liver in a mouse model of chronic alcohol-induced liver injury (Lu et al 2014).…”