Evaluation of Swarna Guggulu in management of arthritis basis in vitro anti-inflammatory efficacy and ingredient based benefits

Arthritis and osteoarthritis are common joint problems that eventually become significant enough to impact daily activities of those afflicted, often due to severe pain caused by joint inflammation and at times; due to their serious complications. Swarna Guggulu is an Ayurvedic herbomineral formulation, comprising ingredients traditionally known for maintaining the health of joints. We investigated the benefits of Swarna Guggulu in arthritis basis in vitro anti-inflammatory efficacy by quantitation of modulation in the production of proinflammatory chemokine and cytokines such as MIP-1-alpha, TNF-alpha and IL-1-beta secreted by Swarna Guggulu treated dendritic cells as compared to LPS stimulated dendritic cells alone. At non-cytotoxic concentrations, treatment of LPS stimulated DCs with Swarna Guggulu in the concentration range of 0.1 mu g/ml-50 mu g/ml, resulted in considerable inhibition of production of LPS induced proinflammatory markers-MIP-1-alpha, TNF-alpha, and IL-1-beta. Down regulation in levels of LPS induced TNF-alpha (56.2-71.2%), MIP-1-alpha (32.3-41.7%) and IL-1-beta (34.4-45.2%) compared to LPS treated DCs alone, suggested potential anti-inflammatory activity of Swarna Guggulu. Results of in vitro study were in sync with the documented benefits of its ingredient in arthritis.