Anti-inflammatory Activity of Potentilla kleiniana Extracts

Potentilla kleiniana (PK) is a member of the Rosaceae family that is native to China, Japan, Korea, India, and Malaysia. It produces one or more erect stems from a branching caudex and system of rhizomes. It grows 20 to 60 cm tall, and is slightly hairy to nearly hairless. The leaves are ternate, divided into three leaflets. The basal leaves are largest, borne on long petioles. Each has oval leaflets up to 3 cm long that are deeply cut into blunt teeth. Smaller leaves occur higher on the stem. The inflorescence is a cyme of one or more flowers. The flower has usually five yellow petals up to a cm long on a calyx of pointed sepals and narrower pointed bractlets. Potentilla kleiniana is often used in Korean traditional systems of medicine as a remedy for hemostasis, dysentery cough, pertussis, sore throat, external bleeding, and neutralizes snake venom. Generally drugs that are used for arthritis have antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties. However, validity of the anti-inflammatory activity has not been scientifically investigated so far. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory potential of PK using the ethanolic extract of PK and its sub-fractions. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of PK, we examined the inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide(NO) and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) on RAW 264.7 cells. Our results indicated that ethanolic extract significantly inhibited the LPS-induced NO, and PGE₂ production in RAW 264.7 cells. The ethanolic extract inhibitory activity for NO and PGE₂ tests with IC₅₀ values showed in 49.57 μg/ml. This result revealed that ethanolic extract of PK is expected to be good candidate for development into source of anti-inflammatory agent.