Anti-inflammatory evaluation and acute toxicity of three food supplements that contain Moussonia deppeana.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the anti-inflammatory activity through two murine models and in the median Lethal Dose (LD50 ) of three dietary supplements that contain Moussonia deppeana.

METHODS: The anti-inflammatory activity of three dietary supplements (Cicatrisan/Gastricus® , Gastinol® , and Gastrovita® ) EtOH extracts was evaluated by TPA and by carrageenan murine models; also, median Lethal Dose (LD50 ) was determined. Verbascoside was quantified by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and the mixture of ursolic and oleanolic acids were identified in all supplements by TLC; however, none of these dietary supplements contain verbascoside.

RESULTS: For the TPA model, Cicatrisan/Gastricus® generated a notable effect with 38.24% inhibition. While in the carrageenan model, it also exhibited noteworthy anti-inflammatory activity of ear edema with 66.39% of paw edema inhibition at 150 mg/kg, followed by Gastinol® and Gastrovita® with ≈50% at 300 mg/kg. Finally, LD50 was >2 g/kg for all supplements, when was administered intragastrically and Body Weight (BW) gain in mice was not altered after 14 days.

CONCLUSIONS: Of the three food supplements containing M. deppeana, only the EtOH extract from Cicatrisan/Gastricus® formulation (tablets) showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in both experimental models and the LD50 was >2 g/kg.