Analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of Buddleja globosa, Buddlejaceae

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Buddleja globosa, known as "matico", is employed in Chile for wound healing. Aim of the study: To validate the traditional use of the crude drug through in vivo and in vitro evaluation of the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antioxidant properties of its extracts. Materials and methods: Sequential hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and total methanol extracts were studied using bioguided fractionation. The following activities were investigated: analgesic (writhing test), oral and topic anti-inflammatory (paw- and ear-induced edema), free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, DPPH, superoxide anion, lipid peroxidation and xanthine oxidase inhibition). Sodium naproxen, nimesulide, indomethacin were used as reference drugs for in vivo, quercetin and allopurinol for in vitro assays. Results: A mixture of alpha- and beta-amyrins was isolated from the hexane extract that showed 41.2% of analgesic effect at 600 mg/kg, inhibited by 47.7 and 79.0% the arachidonic acid (AA) and 12-deoxyphorbol-13-decanoate (TPA)-induced inflammation at 3 mg/20 mu L/ear, respectively. A mixture of beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, stigmastenol, stigmastanol and campesterol was isolated from the fraction CD4-N and beta-sitosterol-glycoside from the fraction CD5-N, reducing TPA-induced inflammation by 78.2 and 83.7% at 1 mg/20 mu L/ear, respectively. The fraction CD4-N at 300 mg/kg also showed analgesic activity (38.7%). The methanol extract at 600 mg/kg per os showed anti-inflammatory effect (61.4%), topic anti-inflammatory (56.7% on TPA) and analgesic activity (38.5%). Verbascoside and luteolin-7-O-glucoside were the major components of the methanol extract; apigenin 7-O-glucoside was also detected. Inhibition of superoxide anion, lipoperoxidation, and DPPH bleaching effect was found in the methanol serial and global extracts. Conclusions: The present report demonstrate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of Buddleja globosa and validate its use in Chilean traditional medicine. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.