Planta Med 2015; 81 - PW_105
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1565729

Anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory potential of Typhonium blumei and Typhonium roxburghii: inhibition of degranulation via calcium influx modulation

M Korinek 1, 2, M El-Shazly 1, 3, YC Wu 1, 4, BH Chen 2, 5, FR Chang 1, 6
  • 1Graduate Institute of Natural Products, College of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 2Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 3Department of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
  • 4School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
  • 5The Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 6Research Center for Natural Products and New Drugs, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Typhonium blumei Nicolson & Sivadasan (Araceae), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, is used in Taiwan as a folk medicine to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases. Typhonium blumei is usually not distinguished from Typhonium roxburghii Schott and they are commonly used interchangeably.

We evaluated and compared the anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory properties of T. blumei and T. roxburghii in relation to their composition profiles.

The methanolic extracts of leaves, rhizomes or whole plants were partitioned with different solvents to obtain the nonpolar fractions. The anti-allergic activity of the nonpolar fractions was assessed by A23187 and antigen-induced degranulation assays using RBL-2H3 mast cells. The effect of these fractions on the anti-allergic molecular targets including FcεRI receptor expression, calcium influx, cytokines mRNA expression and protein expression was investigated. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using superoxide anion and elastase release assays in human neutrophils. The results revealed that both species possess potent anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory activities. The inhibition of degranulation in mast cells was attributed to calcium influx modulation. The active fractions were rich in fatty acids, as revealed by NMR analysis. Palmitic, linoleic and α-linolenic acids were identified as the major fatty acids in both plants by GC-MS.

The obtained results support the traditional use of T. blumei in the treatment of inflammatory diseases as well as its substitution with T. roxburghii.