In vitro assessment of anti-inflammatory and COX-2 inhibitory action of some medicinal plants

Abstract

Objective of this research was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and COX-2 inhibitory properties of celery, myrrh, aqueous and alcoholic fenugreek plant extracts. The Human Red Blood Cell membrane stabilization (HRBC) method was used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect and the Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) was used to evaluate the COX-2 inhibitory actions. The celery extract showed excellent anti-inflammatory and COX-2 inhibition potency. The other extracts (myrrh and fenugreek) showed less activity that might indicate high efficacy of celery. This may be attributed to the plant constituents, mainly to a compound known as 3-n-butylphthalide, which is the most powerful of all healing factors of celery.