Abstract
Juice and decoction of leaves of Suaeda fruticosa, a halophytic medicinal plant of Cholistan desert, is traditionally used to treat rheumatism. The current study was carried out to probe into in vivo anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and anti-arthritic potential of ethanolic extract of the whole plant of S. fruticosa (Et-SF) and its bioactive molecules. GC–MS screening of Et-SF revealed presence of various bioactive compounds including phytol, thymol, n-hexadecanoic acid, farnesol, and 1-heptacosanol. DPPH in vitro radical scavenging assay demonstrated moderate antioxidant potential of Et-SF. Safety evaluation of Et-SF confirmed no lethal effects in female albino rats up to the single oral dose of 5000 mg/kg. In all in vivo models, Et-SF was administered in three doses (125, 250, and 500 mg/kg) and a single dose of flurbiprofen (FP) (10 mg/kg). Et-SF significantly (p < 0.05) attenuated acute inflammation in carrageenan, histamine, and serotonin-induced rat paw oedema models in a time-dependent manner. Et-SF alleviated oedema, restored haematological parameters, and reduced severe pannus formation, inflammatory cell infiltration, and fibrous tissue proliferation in the paws of CFA-induced arthritic rats. Moreover, treatment with thymol, farnesol and n-hexadecanoic acid alone and in combination also attenuated the arthritic progression in the arthritic rats indicating involvement of these compounds towards anti-arthritic potential of Et-SF. Et-SF and FP significantly (p < 0.05) down-regulated IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, NF-κB, and COX-2 mRNA expression, and up-regulated IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA expression in arthritic rats. Hot plate and acetic acid-induced writhing models results indicated the analgesic attributes of Et-SF in mice models. This study suggests that S. fruticosa ethanol extract may regulate the expression of inflammatory markers involved in nociceptive, inflammatory, and arthritic disorders. Its phytochemicals could _target multiple phases of these conditions at cellular and subcellular levels. Further research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study can be obtained from Mr. Muhammad Fiaz on reasonable request.
References
Ahmed OM, Soliman HA, Mahmoud B, Gheryany RR (2017) Ulva lactuca hydroethanolic extract suppresses experimental arthritis via its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Beni-Suef Univ J Basic Appl Sci 6:394–408
Ahmed O, Fahim H, Mahmoud A, Ahmed E (2018a) Bee venom and hesperidin effectively mitigate complete Freund’s adjuvant-induced arthritis via immunomodulation and enhancement of antioxidant defense system. Arch Rheumatol 33:198–212
Ahmed OM, Ashour MB, Fahim HI, Ahmed NA (2018b) The role of Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokines and antioxidant defense system in mediating the effects of lemon and grapefruit peel hydroethanolic extracts on adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. J Appl Pharm Sci 8:069–081
Amdekar S, Roy P, Singh V, Kumar A, Singh R, Sharma P (2012) Anti-inflammatory activity of lactobacillus on carrageenan-induced paw edema in male wistar rats. Int J Inflamm 2012(1):752015
Aswathy I, Krishnan S, Peter J, Sabu V, Helen A (2021) Scientific validation of anti-arthritic effect of Kashayams: a polyherbal formulation in collagen induced arthritic rats. J Ayurveda Integr Med 12:20–27
Ballou LR, Botting RM, Goorha S, Zhang J, Vane JR (2000) Nociception in cyclooxygenase isozyme-deficient mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci 97:10272–10276
Bang JS, Oh DH, Choi HM, Sur B-J, Lim S-J, Kim JY, Yang H-I, Yoo MC, Hahm D-H, Kim KS (2009) Anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic effects of piperine in human interleukin 1β-stimulated fibroblast-like synoviocytes and in rat arthritis models. Arthritis Res Ther 11:1–9
Carvalho AM, Heimfarth L, Pereira EWM, Oliveira FS, Menezes IR, Coutinho HD, Picot L, Antoniolli AR, Quintans JS, Quintans-Júnior LJ (2020) Phytol, A chlorophyll component, produces antihyperalgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antiarthritic effects: possible Nfκb pathway involvement and reduced levels of the proinflammatory cytokines Tnf-α and Il-6. J Nat Prod 83:1107–1117
Chun S-C, Jee SY, Lee SG, Park SJ, Lee JR, Kim SC (2007) Anti-inflammatory activity of the methanol extract of moutan cortex in Lps-activated Raw264. 7 cells. Evid-Based Complement Altern Med 4:327–333
Croia C, Bursi R, Sutera D, Petrelli F, Alunno A, Puxeddu I (2019) One year in review 2019: pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Exp Rheumatol 37:347–357
Farida Y, Azela W, Lestari ME, Pratami DK (2021) The quality parameters, total flavonoids determination and antioxidant activity compound of Andaliman Fruit (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium Dc.) extract. Int J Appl Pharm 13:34–40
Fiaz M, Asif M, Khan KUR (2024) Launaea fragilis extract attenuated arthritis in rats through modulation of Il-1β, Tnf-α, Il-6, NF-κB, Cox-2, Il-4, and Il-10. Inflammopharmacology 32:2427–2443
Ganesan R, Doss HM, Rasool M (2016) Majoon Ushba, a polyherbal compound ameliorates rheumatoid arthritis via regulating inflammatory and bone remodeling markers in rats. Cytokine 77:115–126
Gholijani N, Amirghofran Z (2016) Effects of thymol and carvacrol on T-helper cell subset cytokines and their main transcription factors in ovalbumin-immunized mice. J Immunotoxicol 13:729–737
Guo Q, Wang Y, Xu D, Nossent J, Pavlos NJ, Xu J (2018) Rheumatoid arthritis: pathological mechanisms and modern pharmacologic therapies. Bone Res 6:1–14
Hasan UH, Shahzad M, Jahan S, Niazi ZR, Bukhari IA, Assiri AM, Riaz H (2019) Inhibitory effects of Clematis orientalis aqueous ethanol extract and fractions on inflammatory markers in complete Freund’s adjuvant-induced arthritis in Sprague–Dawley rats. Inflammopharmacology 27:781–797
Hassan UH, Shahzad M, Shabbir A, Jahan S, Saleem M, Bukhari IA, Assiri AM (2019) Amelioration of adjuvant induced arthritis in sprague dawley rats through modulation of inflammatory mediators by Ribes Alpestre Decne. J Ethnopharmacol 235:460–471
He F, Ru X, Wen T (2020) Nrf2, a transcription factor for stress response and beyond. Int J Mol Sci 21:4777
He X, Zhang C, Amirsaadat S, Jalil AT, Kadhim MM, Abasi M, Pilehvar Y (2023) Curcumin-loaded mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes efficiently attenuate proliferation and inflammatory response in rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 195:51–67
Humbare RB, Sarkar J, Kulkarni AA, Juwale MG, Deshmukh SH, Amalnerkar D, Chaskar M, Albertini MC, Rocchi MB, Kamble SC (2022) Phytochemical characterization, antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties of Rubia cordifolia L. extracts prepared with improved extraction conditions. Antioxidants 11:1006
Ikeda Y, Ueno A, Naraba H, Oh-Ishi S (2001) Involvement of vanilloid receptor Vr1 and prostanoids in the acid-induced writhing responses of mice. Life Sci 69:2911–2919
Khan R, Sultana S (2011) Farnesol attenuates 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine induced oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptotic responses in the colon of wistar rats. Chem Biol Interact 192:193–200
Krishnamoorthy S, Honn KV (2006) Inflammation and disease progression. Cancer Metastasis Rev 25:481–491
Li Y, Yu C, Zhu W-M, Xie Y, Qi X, Li N, Li J-S (2010) Triptolide ameliorates Il-10-deficient mice colitis by mechanisms involving suppression of Il-6/Stat3 signaling pathway and down-regulation of Il-17. Mol Immunol 47:2467–2474
Li C, Wang J, Ma R, Li L, Wu W, Cai D, Lu Q (2022) Natural-derived alkaloids exhibit great potential in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. Pharmacol Res 175:105972
López V, Akerreta S, Casanova E, García-Mina JM, Cavero RY, Calvo MI (2007) In vitro antioxidant and anti-rhizopus activities of Lamiaceae herbal extracts. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 62:151–155
Maruotti N, Corrado A, Cantatore FP (2017) Osteoblast role in osteoarthritis pathogenesis. J Cell Physiol 11:2957–2963.
Mcinnes IB, Schett G (2007) Cytokines in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. Nat Rev Immunol 7:429–442
Medini F, Bourgou S, Lalancette K, Snoussi M, Mkadmini K, Coté I, Abdelly C, Legault J, Ksouri R (2015) Phytochemical analysis, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities of the halophyte Limonium densiflorum extracts on human cell lines and murine macrophages. S Afr J Bot 99:158–164
Mehrzadi S, Khalili H, Fatemi I, Malayeri A, Siahpoosh A, Goudarzi M (2021) Zingerone mitigates carrageenan-induced inflammation through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Inflammation 44:186–193
Mittal M, Mehta P, Rajput S, Rajender S, Chattopadhyay N (2021) The pharmacological assessment of resveratrol on preclinical models of rheumatoid arthritis through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Pharmacol 910:174504
Nagoor Meeran MF, Stanely Mainzen P (2012) Protective effects of thymol on altered plasma lipid peroxidation and nonenzymic antioxidants in isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarcted rats. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 26:368–373
Nasuti C, Fedeli D, Bordoni L, Piangerelli M, Servili M, Selvaggini R, Gabbianelli R (2019) Anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and anti-nociceptive activities of Nigella sativa oil in a rat model of arthritis. Antioxidants 8:342
Naz R, Ahmed Z, Shahzad M, Shabbir A, Kamal F (2020) Amelioration of rheumatoid arthritis by Anacardium occidentale via inhibition of collagenase and lysosomal enzymes. Evid-Based Complement Altern Med 2020(1):8869484
Nunes-Neto PA, Peixoto-Sobrinho TJDS, Da Silva Júnior ED, Leopoldina Da Silva J, Rodrigo Da Silva Oliveira A, Pupo AS, Araújo AV, Costa-Silva JHD, Wanderley AG (2017) The effect of schinus Terebinthifolius raddi (Anacardiaceae) bark extract on histamine-induced paw edema and ileum smooth muscle contraction. Evid-Based Complement Altern Med 2017(1):1416375
Oueslati S, Ksouri R, Falleh H, Pichette A, Abdelly C, Legault J (2012) Phenolic content, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of the edible halophyte Suaeda fruticosa Forssk. Food Chem 132:943–947
Pejin B, Savic A, Sokovic M, Glamoclija J, Ciric A, Nikolic M, Radotic K, Mojovic M (2014) Further in vitro evaluation of antiradical and antimicrobial activities of phytol. Nat Prod Res 28:372–376
Qamar W, Sultana S (2008) Farnesol ameliorates massive inflammation, oxidative stress and lung injury induced by intratracheal instillation of cigarette smoke extract in rats: an initial step in lung chemoprevention. Chem Biol Interact 176:79–87
Rosillo MÁ, Alarcón-De-La-Lastra C, Castejón ML, Montoya T, Cejudo-Guillén M, Sánchez-Hidalgo M (2019) polyphenolic extract from extra virgin olive oil inhibits the inflammatory response in Il-1β-activated synovial fibroblasts. Br J Nutr 121:55–62
Saleem M, Asif M, Parveen A, Yaseen HS, Saadullah M, Bashir A, Asif J, Arif M, Khan IU, Khan RU (2021a) Investigation of in vivo anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic attributes of coumarin-rich ethanolic extract of Melilotus indicus. Inflammopharmacology 29:281–293
Saleem M, Iftikhar A, Asif M, Hussain K, Alamgeer, Shah PA, Saleem A, Akhtar MF, Tanzeem M, Yaseen HS (2021b) Asphodelus tenuifolius extracts arrested inflammation and arthritis through modulation of Tnf-α, NF-κB, Ils, and Cox-2 activities in in vivo models. Inflammopharmacology 29:483–497
Santhanasabapathy R, Vasudevan S, Anupriya K, Pabitha R, Sudhandiran G (2015) Farnesol quells oxidative stress, reactive gliosis and inflammation during acrylamide-induced neurotoxicity: behavioral and biochemical evidence. Neuroscience 308:212–227
Santos CM, Francischi JN, Lima-Paiva P, Sluka KA, Resende MA (2013) Effect of transcutaneous electrical stimulation on nociception and edema induced by peripheral serotonin. Int J Neurosci 123:507–515
Sivakumaran G, Prabhu K, Rao M, Jones S, Sundaram RL, Ulhas VR, Vijayalakshmi N (2019) Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of one ayurvedic oil, Ksheerabala thailam. Drug Invent Today 11:2661–2665
Subramaneyaan M, Yasmeen S, Ahmed RS, Arora VK, Tripathi AK, Banerjee BD (2013) Evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of Majoon Suranjan, a Unani formulation, in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: an experimental study. Exp Biol Med 238:1379–1387
Suthar R, Solanki HA (2020) Phytochemical Screening of halophytic plant Suaeda fruticosa (L) Forssk. Ex Jf Gmel. Int Assoc Biol Comput Dig 1(2):308–313
Talukder S, Ahmed KS, Hossain H, Hasan T, Liya IJ, Amanat M, Nahar N, Shuvo MSR, Daula ASU (2022) Fimbristylis aestivalis Vahl: a potential source of cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) inhibitors. Inflammopharmacology 30(6):2301–2315
Taylor PC (2002) Vegf and imaging of vessels in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Res Ther 4:1–9
Tulika T, Mala A (2017) Gc-Ms analysis of invasive aquatic weed, Pistia stratiotes L. and Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms. Int J Curr Pharm Res 9:111–117
Ullah R, Badshah W, Ali G, Ullah A, Khan SU, Ahmad N, Shahid M, Naveed M, Ullah S, Bangash SA (2022) Cassia artemisiodes attenuates nociceptive and diabetes-induced neuropathic pain modalities apropos antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Biomed Pharmacother 149:112834
Wang RX, Zhou M, Ma HL, Qiao YB, Li QS (2021) The role of chronic inflammation in various diseases and anti-inflammatory therapies containing natural products. ChemMedChem 16:1576–1592
Yao J, Wei C, Wang J-Y, Zhang R, Li Y-X, Wang L-S (2015) Effect of resveratrol on Treg/Th17 signaling and ulcerative colitis treatment in mice. World J GastroenterOl: WJG 21:6572
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation for funding this work through the Researchers Supporting Project Number (RSP2025R349), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Funding
Chemicals and consumables used in the current project were procured from the funds provided by the Researchers Supporting Project (Number: RSP2025R349), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (Research grant No: 20–15527/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2021 2021).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Conceptualization: M.F, S.R.C., M.S., K.R.K., and M.A. Methodology: M.F., K.R.K. Formal analysis: M.F., M.F.E., K.S.AN, A.H.S.Y. Investigation: M.F. Resources: M.A., M.F.E., and K.S.AN. Writing—Original Draft: M.F., S.R.C., K.R.K., M.S., and M.A. Writing— Review & Editing: M.F., S.R.C., M.S., A.H.S.Y., and M.A., M.F.E., and K.S.AN. Supervision: M.A., and K.R.K. Funding acquisition: M.A., and M.F.E.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The normal control, diseased control and standard drug treated values/ images of the current paper are same as reported in our previous study (Fiaz et al., Inflammopharmacology. 2024 32(4):2427-2443. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-024-01471-6).
Conflict of interest
Authors do not declare conflict of interest in the current work.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Fiaz, M., Elsadek, M.F., Al-Numair, K.S. et al. Down-regulation of interlinked inflammatory signalling cascades by ethanolic extract of Suaeda fruticosa Forssk. ex J.F. Gmel. attenuated in vivo inflammatory and nociceptive responses. Inflammopharmacol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-024-01624-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-024-01624-7