Phenolic extractives from the bark of Pinus sylvestris L. and their effects on inflammatory mediators nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2.

The anti-inflammatory properties of phenolic pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) bark extract were studied. The pine bark extract was fractionated by liquid-liquid extractions and semipreparative high-performance liquid chromatography to reveal the most potent constituents. The phenolic compositions of three pine bark samples obtained, a crude extract, a chloroform fraction, and a semipreparative fraction, were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV diode array detection and/or electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. In addition, eight compounds were isolated and identified by NMR and MS techniques. In total 28 phenolic compounds were identified. The effects of the three pine bark samples on the synthesis of two proinflammatory mediators, nitric oxide and prostaglandin E(2), were measured. It was shown that pine bark contains compounds that inhibit the production of these proinflammatory mediators.