Abstract

Rabih S. Talhouk *, Wassim El-Jouni , Riad Baalbaki , Hala Gali-Muhtasib , Joanna Kogan and Salma N. Talhouk

Of a selected 29 plants endemic to Lebanon and claimed to have anti-inflammatory effects, according to Lebanese folk literature, Centaurea ainetensis was chosen to further characterize its claimed antiinflammatory activity using in-vitro and in-vivo assays. Water extract from C. ainetensis, at noncytotoxic concentrations, inhibited in a dose dependant manner interleukin-6 (IL-6) and gelatinases A and B produced by endotoxin (ET)-treated CID -9 cells grown in conditions that favor differentiation, on EHS-drip, at 9, 24 and 48 h post ET treatment. The inhibition was detected in doses as low as 3% (of a 1:8 decoction) and reached maximal levels of inhibition at 8% similar to control non ET-treated cells. C. ainetensis extract at these concentrations did not affect CID-9 cell’s expression of -casein, a milk protein expressed by functionally differentiated mammary cells in culture. In vivo studies showed that C. ainetensis extract reversed ET-induced paw edema and thermal hyperalgesia in rats as demonstrated by hot plate and heat hyperalgesia pain tests.