Inflammation of muscles is a common symptom of all ages caused by various reasons,
which could occur in specific areas or spread extensively. Muscle relaxants and non-steroid
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are commonly used to relieve pain and symptom. However,
both have several side effects. Therefore, drugs for external use are often used together
with oral drugs to relieve symptoms. Benjakul, a Thai herbal remedy, is commonly used
in Thai traditional medicine. It consist of five hot herbs, namely Piper chaba Hunt., Piper sarmentosum Roxb., Piper interuptum Opiz., Plumbago indica Linn., (Plumbago rosea Linn), and Zingiber officinale Roscoe. The anti-inflammatory effects of Benjakul have been recorded since ancient
times. A recent study has found that Benjakul has effect to inhibit PGE2 production
but the stability of the activity has not been reported. However, in view of developing
an anti-inflammatory product, the stability of this activity has to be evaluated.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of Benjakul on lipopolysaccharid
(LPS)-stimulated prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) [1] production during accelerated storage
conditions. The 95% ethanol extract of Benjakul was used. It was kept at 40 degree
Celsius with 75% humidity condition, which was called accelerated condition [2], then
collected every 30 day for 6 months and tested for inhibition of PGE2 production.
The study found that there was no statistically significant difference in inhibition
of PGE2 production activity among samples collected from different periods of time.
From the result, it can refer to the abilities that the inhibitory effect of Benjakul
extract is stable to inhibit PGE2 production activity for 2 years. These results suggest
that Benjakul extract may potentially be developed as phytopharmaceutical product
to treat muscle inflammation.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the National Research University Project
of Thailand Office of Higher Education Commission, Royal Golden Jubilee Program (RGJ:
grant No. PHD/0071/2557), Center of Excellence on Applied Thai Traditional Medicine
Research (CEATMR), Thammasat University.
Keywords: Benjakul, PGE2, anti-inflammatory.
References:
[1] Bae GS, Kim MS, Jung WS, Seo SW, Yun SW, Kim SG, Park RK, Kim EC, Song HJ, Park SJ. Inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory responses by piperine. Eur
J Pharmacol 2010; 642: 154 – 162
[2] ICH Harmonised Tripartite Guideline. Stability testing of new drug substances
and products. Q1A (R2), current step. 2003
