Estimation of naphthaquinones from Arnebia hispidissima (Lehm.) DC. In vivo and in vitro. I. Anti-inflammatory screening.

The hexane extract of Arnebia hispidissima yielded a mixture of naphthaquinones: arnebin-1, arnebin-7, tiglic acid (ester of dihydroxy alkannin), alkannin, arnebinol and cycloarnebin-7. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory activities of hexane extract and isolated naphthaquinones, models with carrageenan-induced acute arthritis and complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced chronic arthritis in rats were conducted. The observed results indicated that pretreatment with cycloarnebin-7 significantly inhibited the carrageenan-induced acute arthritis. Moreover, arnebin-1, significantly suppressed the development of chronic arthritis induced by CFA. The present study deals with the quantification of naphthaquinones from in vivo and in vitro cell cultures of plant species and isolated compounds from intact plant tested for their swelling inhibitory potency. It has been reported that arnebin-1 was the major naphthaquinone both in vivo (0.62%) and in vitro (0.27%) cell cultures. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.