Kaempferia parviflora Extract Alleviated Rat Arthritis,Exerted Chondroprotective Properties In Vitro,and Reduced Expression of Genes Associated with Inflammatory Arthritis

Kaempferia parviflora Wall. ex Baker (KP) has been reported to attenuate cartilage destruction in rat model of osteoarthritis. Previously, we demonstrated that KP rhizome extract and its active components effectively suppressed mechanisms associated with RA in SW982 cells. Here, we further evaluated the anti-arthritis potential of KP extract by using multi-level models, including a complete Freund’s adjuvant-induced arthritis and a cartilage explant culture model, and to investigate the effects of KP extract and its major components on related gene expressions and underlying mechanisms within cells. In arthritis rats, the KP extract reduced arthritis indexes, with no significant changes in biological parameters. In the cartilage explant model, the KP extract exerted chondroprotective potential by suppressing sulfated glycosaminoglycans release while preserving high accumulation of proteoglycans. In human chondrocyte cell line, a mixture of the major components equal to their amounts in KP extract showed strong suppression the expression of genes-associated inflammatory joint disease similar to that of the extract. Additionally, KP extract significantly suppressed NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. The suppressing expression of necroptosis genes and promoted anti-apoptosis were also found. Collectively, these results provided supportive evidence of the anti-arthritis properties of KP extract, which are associated with its three major components.     

Electrocoagulation of quinone pigments

Some representative quinones, viz. one naphthoquinone (plumbagin) and five anthraquinones (alizarin, purpurin, chrysazin, emodin, and anthrarufin), were subjected to electrocoagulation. It was found that the rate and extent of coagulation of these compounds appears to correlate with the number and relative position of their phenolic substituent groups, and that all of the coagulated quinones could be recovered. Attempts were then made to electrochemically isolate three quinones, namely plumbagin, morindone and erythrolaccin, from natural sources.