ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1584620
This article is part of the Research TopicPlant Metabolites in Drug Discovery: The Prism Perspective between Plant Phylogeny, Chemical Composition, and Medicinal Efficacy, Volume IVView all 4 articles
Schaftoside contributed to Anti-inflammatory Activity of Clinacanthus nutans Extract in Lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 Cells
Provisionally accepted
- Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
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Clinacanthus nutans, a plant listed in the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia, is well recognized for its medicinal properties, particularly its anti-inflammatory and antiviral activities. Among its known bioactive constituents, schaftoside has been reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory effects in various disease models. However, comparative studies between pure schaftoside and C. nutans crude extracts, as well as comprehensive investigations into the underlying mechanisms of action, remain limited. Moreover, the relationship between the quantity and diversity of bioactive compounds and their corresponding anti-inflammatory activity which could serve as potential quality biomarkers has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of schaftoside and evaluated its content in C. nutans ethanolic extracts collected from ten geographically distinct regions of Thailand. First, the anti-inflammatory activity of schaftoside was assessed in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. At a concentration of 40 μM, schaftoside significantly downregulated the expression of key inflammation-related genes, including iNOS, COX2, PGE2, PGE4, TNF-α, and IL6. Subsequently, ten C. nutans ethanolic extracts were tested for their anti-inflammatory activity in the same cell model. All extracts demonstrated a consistent trend of reducing iNOS protein expression, which was accompanied by a corresponding decrease in nitric oxide (NO) production, indicating their potential anti-inflammatory properties. However, no significant correlation was observed between schaftoside content and the magnitude of anti-inflammatory activity, suggesting that schaftoside may not be the sole active compound responsible for the observed effects. To further explore this possibility, molecular docking analysis was performed. The results revealed that, in addition to schaftoside, other flavonoids such as isoorientin and isovitexin also exhibited binding affinity toward the iNOS protein, indicating that these compounds may contribute to the overall anti-inflammatory activity of C. nutans extracts.
Keywords: Inflammation, Clinacanthus nutans, Herb extract, schaftoside, RAW 264.7 cells
Received: 27 Feb 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Thongyim, Sattayawat, Jangsutthivorawat, Tragoolpua and Panya. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Aussara Panya, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
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