Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Effect of Arachic Acid Ethyl Ester Isolated from Propolis

Abstract

Inflammatory diseases are a real public health problem worldwide. Many synthetic drugs used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and immunosuppressive drugs have harmful side effects. However, there are natural products like propolis, which is traditionally used in the treatment of pain. The objective of this work was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the ethyl ester of arachic acid, a compound isolated from Cameroonian propolis. The ethyl ester of arachic acid was isolated by chromatography of the ethanolic extract of propolis harvested at Tala-Mokolo (Far North Region of Cameroon) and identified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra and the 1H-1H correlated spectroscopy. The anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of oral administration of arachic acid ethyl ester (12.5, 25.0, and 50.0 mg/kg bw) were evaluated using carrageenan-induced paw edema, xylene-induced ear edema, cotton pellets-induced granuloma formation, and hot plate test in rat. Arachic acid ethyl ester produced maximum inhibition at 50.0 mg/kg for carrageenan-induced paw edema (62.5%), xylene-induced ear edema (54.5%), cotton pellet-induced granuloma (47.4%), and increased mean latency for hot plate test in rats. These results show clearly that the arachic acid ethyl ester has acute and chronic anti-inflammatory properties as well as central analgesic properties. This justifies the use of propolis in the treatment of pain in traditional medicine.

Simultaneous Optimization of Extraction Yield, Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Moroccan Propolis Extracts: Improvement of Ultrasound-Assisted Technique Using Response Surface Methodology

“…Investigational studies have shown that propolis composition varies according to geographic location, botanic origin, and bee species [3,4]. Over 300 chemical components were identified in propolis, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, and terpenes; these compounds are the most important contributors to the biological activity of propolis [5], including analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects [6,7] and antimicrobial, antioxidative, immunomodulatory, anti-diabetic and anti-tumor activities [8][9][10][11].…”

Propolis: An update on its chemistry and pharmacological applications

“…Furthermore, Brazilian propolis exhibited anti-nociceptic effect and reduced paw oedema via activating the opioid receptors in rats [166]. Arachidonic acid ethyl ester, a bioactive substance isolated from Cameroonian propolis, reduced acute central pain sensation [167]. Propolis and its chemical constituents presented antinociceptive action on inflammatory and neurogenic pain without motor side effects [168].…”

“…A number of phytochemical constituents were identified in differents propolis samples such as chalcones and dihydrochalcones [176,177], flavanones, flavones and flavonols, hydrocarbons esters ethers, terpenoids, lignans, steroids [49,178]. Brazilian red and, green propolis, Chinese propolis, Bulgarian propolis, Iranian propolis and Cameroonian propolis have the ability to reduce pain sensation in mice/rat models [165,167,169,170]. Brazilian propolis suppressed acetic acidinduced pain and increased the pain threshold reducing the nociceptive response [160].…”

Challenge in Propolis Biocompatibility as a Potential Medicament in Dental Medicine

“…Furthermore, it is also reported that propolis may have several enzymes, such as adenosine triphosphate, succinic dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase, and glucose phosphatase [4,18]. Propolis has also been studied to have potential antibacterial capacity [7,14,20,21,22], antifungal [23,24,25], antiviral [7,19], antiparasitic [7,19], antioxidant [7,19,27,28,29,30], anti-cancer [7,19,32], anti-inflammatory [7,19,26], antiulcer and antidiabetic effects [7,19].…”