LC-MS-Based Chemical Profiling and In-Vivo Evaluation of The Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Nociceptive Activities of The Defatted Methanolic Extract of Crataegus Sinaica (Rosaceae) Fruits

Abstract

In this study, the anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive properties of the defatted methanolic extract (DME) of Crataegus sinaica fruits were evaluated in vivo. The anti-inflammatory effect of DME was evaluated in a model of carrageenan-induced rat paw edema against indomethacin (20 mg/kg, p.o.), and the anti-nociceptive effect was tested against acetylsalicylic acid (150 mg/kg, p.o.) using acetic acid-induced writhing method to evaluate the peripheral analgesic effect, and hot plate method to evaluate the central analgesic effect. DME (at the three dose levels; 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly (P≤0.05) suppressed carrageenan-induced inflammation after 1, 2 and 3 hr. In addition, treatment with DME at 200 mg/kg significantly reduced the level of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2, 0.8±0.04 ng/paw), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α, 246.33±9.38 pg/ml) and myeloperoxidase (MPO, 2.09±0.37 ng/ml) in paw exudate close to that shown by indomethacin (0.72±0.04, 242.56±5.39 and 1.59±0.37, respectively). Furthermore, DME at 100 and 200 mg/kg as well as acetylsalicylic acid significantly (P≤0.05) decreased the number of writhes (in acetic acid-induced writhing test), and increased latency time (in the hot plate test) compared to control. The chemical profile of DME was identified via UPLC/PDA/ESI-MS. As a result, a total of 40 compounds were tentatively identified, including phenolic acids, procyanidins (many as oligomers of epi-catechin and their gallate esters), flavonoids and their glycosides. These findings confirm that DME has anti-inflammatory as well as central and peripheral analgesic effects, and support the traditional use of C. sinaica fruits against several inflammatory ailments.