Discovery of cyclooxygenase inhibitors from medicinal plants used to treat inflammation

Eleven authenticated botanicals used in the traditional Chinese medicine Huo-Luo-Xiao-Ling Dan were screened for ligands to cyclooxygenase (COX) using pulsed ultrafiltration liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and a mass spectrometry-based enzyme assay was used to determine the concentration of each of 17 ligands that inhibited COX-1 or COX-2 by 50% (IC50). Acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid, beta-boswellic acid, acetyl-alpha-boswellic acid, acetyl-beta-boswellic acid, and betulinic acid were COX-1 selective inhibitors with IC50 values of approximately 10 mu M. Senkyunolide 0 and cryptotanshinone were COX-2 selective inhibitors with IC50 values of 5 mu M and 22 mu M, respectively. Roburic acid and phenethyl-trans-ferulate inhibited COX-1 and COX-2 equally. COX inhibition and the IC50 values of most of these natural product ligands have not been reported previously. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.