This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of
(E)-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl) butadiene (DMPBD), isolated from Zingiber cassumunar Roxb., using in vivo and in vitro models. The results show that DMPBD dose-dependently inhibited the rat ear
edema induced by ethyl phenylpropiolate (EPP),
arachidonic acid (AA) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) and it was more potent than any other standard drugs being used. In EPP-induced
edema IC(50) of DMPBD and
oxyphenbutazone were 21 and 136nmol per ear, respectively. The IC(50) of DMPBD and
phenidone were 60 and 2520nmol per ear, respectively, in AA-induced
edema whereas DMPBD was 11 times more potent than
diclofenac in TPA-induced
edema (IC(50)=660 and 7200pmol per ear, respectively). DMPBD and
diclofenac inhibited the rat paw
edema induced by
carrageenan but not by
platelet activating factor (PAF). In in vitro study DMPBD,
aspirin and
phenidone inhibited
collagen-induced platelet aggregation with IC(50) of 0.35, 0.43 and 0.03mM, respectively. Whereas IC(50) of these agents in
ADP, AA and PAF inductions were 4.85, 3.98 and 1.30mM; 0.94, 0.13 and 0.04mM; and 1.14, 6.96 and 2.40mM, respectively. These results indicate that DMPBD possesses a potent anti-inflammatory activity through the inhibition of CO and LO pathways and seems to have more prominent effects on the LO pathway.