Tinospora crispa (Menispermaceae) has been used traditionally in Indonesia to treat various diseases such as malaria, rheumatism, diabetes, and inflammation. From methanol extract of Tinospora crispa stems we have isolated tinocrisposide (C27H36O11), a furanoditerpene glycoside with bitter taste. This work has been reported in Arch Pharm (Weinheim) [1]. An anti-inflammatory effect of tinocrisposide has been investigated in vivo and reported in 43 rd GA-Congress in Halle [2]. The aims of this study was to investigate in vitro an anti-inflammatory activity of tinocrisposide using the LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Anti-inflammatory effect was quantified spectrometrically at wavelength, λ 560 nm using Griess method by measuring the formed NO after adding Griess reagent.
Tinocrisposide in the concentrations of 1; 5; 25; 50; 100 µM, and 100 µM of dexamethasone (positive control) has been treated against the LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and the experiment results showed a formed NO levels of 39.23; 34.00; 28.9; 20.25; 16.3, and 13.68 µM, respectively; and the inhibition level of 22.67; 33.00; 43.03; 60.10; 68.00, and 73 %, respectively. From the study it could be concluded that all tinocrisposide concentrations were able to inhibit the formation of NO in the cells in the concentration-activity dependent manner where the concentration of 100 µM was found to have the optimum inhibition activity (68%) with IC50 at 46.92 µM. Base on the results tinocrisposide is potentially to be developed as anti-inflammatory drug since nitric oxide has been established to be a mediator in inflammatory diseases.
[1] Pachaly P, Adnan AZ. Arch Pharm (Weinheim) 1992; 325: 705-708.
[2] Adnan AZ, Pachaly P, Almahdy, Adrianti. Pharmacological Assessment of The New Furanoditerpen Glycoside, Tinocrisposide from Tinospora crispa, 43rd Annual Congress of The Society of Medicinal Plant Research, Halle, Germany, September 3-7, 1995.