Ability of certain plant extracts traditionally used to treat ciguatera fish poisoning to inhibit nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages

Characterisation of the anti-inflammatory potential of Vitex trifolia L. (Labiatae), a multipurpose plant of the Pacific traditional medicine

“…Vitex trifolia leaves extract was found to significantly exert a protective activity against PbTx-induced cytotoxic effects at the concentration of 5 g/l. Moreover, among 25 plants tested, Vitex trifolia also exhibited an inhibitory activity against NO over-production in LPSactivated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages (Kumar-Roiné et al, 2009). In this report, we have investigated the anti-inflammatory potential of the aqueous extract of Vitex trifolia leaves by monitoring the modulation of cytokines and iNOS gene and protein over-expression in RAW 264.7 cells.…”

“…Considering the recent advances made in the understanding of the complex pathophysiology of CFP, which involves neurological disturbances as well as inflammatory process, several plant extracts traditionally used to treat CFP were screened for their in vitro ability to inhibit NO production by activated macrophages. These results showed that the aqueous extract of Vitex trifolia leaves significantly inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NO release from RAW 264.7 cells (Kumar-Roiné et al, 2009).…”

Cytoprotective and enhanced anti-inflammatory activities of liposomal piroxicam formulation in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages

“…This minute quantity of NO plays a beneficial role as a smooth muscle vasodilator; a neurotransmitter; and in nonspecific immune responses to infection, host defense, and cytotoxicity. [28][29][30] However, on exposure to specific stimulants such as bacterial LPS endotoxin, inflammatory cytokines, or calcium ionophores, an enzyme known as "inducible NOS" results in prolonged and high-output NO production. Excessive production of NO can be harmful and result in inflammation, intracellular oxidative stress, and autoimmune diseases.…”

Ciguatoxin and Ciguatera

“…Case reports of efficacy in treating ciguatera exist for amitriptyline (Bowman 1984;Davis and Villar 1986;Calvert et al 1987;Ruprecht et al 2001), nifedipine (Calvert et al 1987), gabapentin (Perez et al 2001), pregabalin (Brett and Murnion 2015), fluoxetine (Berlin et al 1992), and tocainide (Lange et al 1988), but these approaches are not widely used. Traditional remedies for ciguatera, usually prepared by a specific member of the village, also continue to be explored as possible treatments (Bourdy et al 1992;Kumar-Roine et al 2009Matsui et al 2009), although their placebo effect is expected to be significant. Unfortunately, randomized controlled clinical trials to confirm efficacy over placebo are lacking, in part reflecting the difficulty accessing ciguatera cases.…”