The medicinal plant Calpurnia aurea leaves act as an anti-inflammatory source of 5-Lipoxygenase / Cyclooxygenase-2 dual inhibitors

Abstract

Calpurnia aurea is a medicinal plant belonging to the family of Fabaceae. Traditionally in Ethiopia the leaves have been used for the treatment of diarrhea, leishmaniasis, swelling, cough and snake bite. Based on the traditional use the leaves of C. aurea might be a promising source for development of anti-inflammatory agents. The objective of the current research was to explore the 5- Lipooxygenase (5-LOX), Cyclooxygenase-1 & Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-1 & COX-2) inhibitory activity of inflammatory enzymes of organic leaves crude extract of C. aurea and its phytochemical analysis. The dried leaves powder of the C. aurea (100 g) was extracted with successive soxhlet extraction by solvents of low polarity (Petroleum ether) to a high polar solvent (Ethanol). These organic leaf extracts C. aurea were assessed for the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity by 5- Lipooxygenase, Cyclooxygenase-1 & Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitory activities by ELISA method and further subjected to phytochemical screening. The ethanolic leaves extract of C.aurea showed significant 5-LOX inhibitory activity of 51.07% at 100 µg/ml with IC50 of 95.30µg/ml and the C.aurea leaves acetone extract showed the selective COX-2 index (2.35) inhibitory activity with an IC50 of 200.75μg/ml. The current work revealed that the C. aurea leaf acetone extract (CALAC) is shows potential source for the isolation and development of 5-LOX and COX-2 dual inhibitory compounds for management of inflammatory related diseases and inflammatory cancers.