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Inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase by extracts derived from inflammation‐treating Chinese medicinal herbs
Author(s) -
Shi DaHua,
Xu Chen,
Guo BinXin,
Wang XiaoTing,
Chen YunXi,
Tan RenXiang
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
phytotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.019
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1573
pISSN - 0951-418X
DOI - 10.1002/ptr.2326
Subject(s) - epoxide hydrolase 2 , chinese herbs , traditional medicine , medicinal herbs , epoxide , inflammation , epoxide hydrolase , pharmacognosy , chemistry , medicinal plants , phytotherapy , medicine , biology , biochemistry , traditional chinese medicine , enzyme , biological activity , in vitro , immunology , alternative medicine , pathology , catalysis , microsome
Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) has been proved to be a key enzyme involved in inflammation progression, and inhibition of sEH is therefore very helpful or crucial for the treatment of inflammation‐related diseases. In order to uncover new clues suggesting the presence of phytochemical‐based sEH inhibitors, and to rationalize the utility of the inflammation‐treating Chinese medicinal herbs, the ethanol extracts derived from 46 medicinal herbs, traditionally used for the treatment of inflammation‐associated diseases in China, were tested for sEH‐inhibition activity using a recently developed sensitive fluorescence‐based assay. Screened at 10 µg/mL, four extracts showed substantial inhibitions of sEH (inhibition rates >50%). The ethanol extract of Sophora flavescens root (Fabaceae) possessed the strongest inhibitory activity against sEH (IC 50 : 2.07 µg/mL). These preliminary findings highlighted the presence of sEH inhibitor(s) in the plant kingdom, and the possibility that the inflammation‐treating herbal medicines could be an untapped reservoir for sEH‐inhibition agents. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.