Abstract

The aerial parts of Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medic are used to treat nephritis, edema and enteritis. Every barber knows that C. bursa-pastoris had a good anti-inflammatory effect. This suggests that the extracted components from C. bursa-pastoris could potentially treat inflammatory disease. For discovering of the anti-inflammatory effects and chemical composition of C. bursa-pastoris, EtOAc extract was extracted from C. bursa-pastoris (EECB) and researched on EECB’s anti-inflammatory effects. On the carrageenan-induced paw oedema experiment, the EECB used at the doses (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) after 10 h (p < 0.01), 5 h (p < 0.01) and 3 h (p < 0.01), respectively, showed significant anti-inflammatory effects. Moreover, on the egg-albumin-induced inflammation experiment, the EECB used at the doses 200 and 300 mg/kg after 4 h (p < 0.01) and 2 h (p < 0.01), respectively, showed significant anti-inflammatory effects. In accordance with the HPLC isolation of the EECB, there are four major compounds, namely, apigenin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (S1), luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (S2), α-adenosine (S3), and uridine (S4), which may explain the activity.

Key words: Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medic, anti-inflammatory, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) isolation, flavonoids.