Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by the occurrence of reversible hyperesponsif and constriction of the airways. Asthma is still a major health problem in the world. The provision of anti-asthma drugs is Keywords: Centella asiatica, spasmolytic, trachea isolated organ ABSTRAKAsma merupakan penyakit inflamasi kronik saluran nafas yang ditandai dengan terjadinya hiperesponsif saluran nafas dan penyempitan saluran nafas secara reversibel. Asma hingga kini masih merupakan masalah kesehatan utama di dunia. Pemberian obat-obatan anti asma merupakan penatalaksanaan penyakit tersebut. Namun demikian terdapat masalah efek samping obat dan masalah biaya yang dikeluarkan untuk pembelian obat tersebut, apalagi asma merupakan penyakit kronis yang memerlukan pengobatan jangka panjang. Dengan demikian maka perlu pengembangan obat antiasma berbasis tumbuhan obat dengan biaya yang lebih terjangkau dan efek samping yang lebih sedikit. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk menguji potensi ekstrak etanol Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. yang secara tradisional digunakan etnis Dayak sebagai obat batuk. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk melihat aktivitas trakeospasmolitik ekstrak etanol C. asiatica pada organ terpisah trakea marmut untuk melihat efek antiasma. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan ekstrak C. asiatica memiliki aktivitas trakeospasmolitik yang signifikan jika dibandingkan dengan kontrol negatif. Meskipun nilai E maks C. asiatica lebih rendah daripada aminofilin, namun nilai EC 50 tidak jauh berbeda dengan aminofilin sebagai kontrol positif. Kesimpulan penelitian ini adalah ekstrak etanol C. asiatica memiliki efek antiasma berdasarkan aktivitas trakeospasmolitiknya.

Paramita S, Moerad EB, Ismail S, Marliana E. 2018. Tracheospasmolytic and anti-inflammatory activity of indigenous Curcuma species as traditional antiasthmatic medicines. Nusantara Bioscience 10: 105-110. Asthma is still a major health problem in the world. Antiasthma drugs raise the problem of side effects and medical expenses. Thus, it is necessary to develop medicinal plants based antiasthma drugs with fewer side effects and more affordable costs. The potential antiasthma medicinal plant came from the genus of Curcuma (Zingiberaceae family). Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is the most prominent species in this genus and has been extensively studied for the treatment of asthma. However, there are other Curcuma indigenous species that are also traditionally used for asthma, namely Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb. and Curcuma mangga Val. Zijp. Both indigenous species have not been studied pharmacological activity as an antiasthma. This research was conducted to know the tracheospasmolytic activity of ethanol extract of C. aeruginosa and C. mangga on the separate organ of guinea pig trachea to determine the antiasthma effect. The research was also conducted to know anti-inflammatory activity with membrane stabilization test and inhibition of lipoxygenase. Results showed that C. aeruginosa and C. mangga had lower tracheospasmolytic activity when they were compared with aminophylline as a positive control. However, the EC50 value of C. aeruginosa (0.020 ± 0.004) and C. mangga (0.039 ± 0.005) were not significantly different with aminophylline (0.016 ± 0.005) as positive controls. The result of membrane stabilization test showed that the EC50 value of C. aeruginosa (47.76 ± 1.57) and C. mangga (67.50 ± 0.97) were high when they were compared with indomethacin (26.39 ± 2.91) as the positive control. Results of lipoxygenase inhibition test showed that the EC50 value of C. aeruginosa (-111.11 ± 2.30) and C. mangga (-101.98 ± 1.32) were high than that of indomethacin (-282.84 ± 7.41) as the positive control. These results show the potential use of C. aeruginosa and C. mangga as antiasthma via tracheospasmolytic activity in separate organs of guinea pig. They also had anti-inflammatory effect based on membrane stabilization and inhibition of lipoxygenase test.

Kanker paru merupakan penyakit utama keganasan dan memiliki jumlah kematian terbesar di dunia. Kanker paru dibagi menjadi dua kelompok, yakni small cell lung cancer (SCLC) dan non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC memiliki jenis antara lain adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, dan large cell carcinoma. Penggunaan CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) sebagai penunjang diagnosis non-invasif dapat digunakan untuk skrining kanker, prognostik dan indikator prediktif terapi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mengetahui apakah terdapat hubungan kadar CEA sebelum dilakukan terapi dengan subtipe histologi kanker paru di RSUD Abdul Wahab Sjahranie Samarinda. Penelitian cross sectional dilakukan pada 114 pasien kanker paru yang didiagnosis dengan pemeriksaan patologi anatomi. Kadar kuantitatif CEA  dan subtipe kanker paru merupakan variabel penelitian. Data dianalisis secara univariat dan bivariat dengan fisher exact test. Subtipe terbanyak adalah non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) dengan jenis adenocarcinoma, dan kadar CEA ≥5ng/dl lebih banyak ditemukan. Stadium IV paling sering ditemukan saat terdiagnosis. Komplikasi terbanyak adalah efusi pleura. Analisis hubungan kadar CEA dengan subtipe histologi kanker paru menunjukkan p-value sebesar 0,439 (α> 0,05). Terdapat hubungan kadar kuantitatif CEA penderita kanker paru sebelum dilakukan terapi dengan subtipe histologi kanker paru di RSUD Abdul Wahab Sjahranie Samarinda.

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) is an infectious disease of the respiratory tract caused by SARS-CoV-2. Nature has provided a great source of antiviral compounds, from which innovative products for the treatment of COVID-19 can be produced. One of the medicinal plants that can be developed for the treatment of COVID-19 is Curcuma aeruginosa Roxb. Previous studies have found tracheospasmolytic and anti-inflammatory activity of this indigenous Curcuma species. There are 10 chemical compounds from Curcuma aeruginosa that have been proven against COVID-19, namely 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), α-terpineol, β-caryophyllene, β-eudesmol, β-pinene, β-sitosterol, curcumenol, palmitic acid, succinic acid and zingiberene. Further research is needed for C. aeruginosa to become a new antiviral drug for the treatment of COVID-19.

Background: Asthma is a major health problem worldwide. Antiasthma drugs have side effects and can be expensive. It is important to develop antiasthma drugs from medicinal plants that have fewer side effects and are cheaper. One of the medicinal plants used for antiasthma treatment comes from Curcuma aeruginosa (Zingiberaceae family). The aim of the research is to examine spasmolytic activity of ethanol extract of C. aeruginosa on isolated guinea pig tracheas to determine the antiasthma effects. Methods: The spasmolytic activity of C. aeruginosa extracts was tested in separated organs of guinea pig trachea. Guinea pig was sacrificed and its trachea rings were suspended in L-shaped wire loops in organ baths containing the Krebs solution aerated with carbogen. Isometric contractions of tracheal rings were measured by the transducer coupled to the amplifier. The trachea rings were exposed to DMSO as negative control, aminophylline as positive control and C. aeruginosa extracts. The single concentration-relaxation curve was obtained in every preparation. Results: The result showed that the decrease of the spasmolytic activity in the guinea pig tracheal tone due to C. aeruginosa extract was significantly better (p=0.022) when compared to the negative control. Meanwhile, the EC50 value of aminophylline (0.019 ± 0.05) was not significantly different (p=0.454) with C. aeruginosa (0.024 ± 0.05). Conclusion: It could be concluded that C. aeruginosa extracts have the potency to be further developed as a new natural source of the antiasthma agents.