Original Articles
Thitiporn Laosim1, Siriporn Ch
Abstract
Vernonia cinerea Less. (Asteraceae) or Little ironweed has been demonstrated to possess not only antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effects, but also contain therapeutic activities for alleviating certain gastrointestinal disorders and skin disorders. Trunk is a part of this plant, which is also used as a traditional medicine, but there are no scientific data on anti-inflammatory property in humans. Herein, the present study aimed at evaluating the toxicity of the hexane extract of Vernonia cinerea L. trunk and its anti-inflammatory effect on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of healthy individuals. Using the MTT assay, we found that the hexane extract did not influence cell viability of PBMCs, and the percentage of viable cells observed was more than 90% with regard to treatment with the concentration range of 0.19 to 100 μg/mL of hexane extract. As experimentally tested using an ELISA method, we found that the hexane extract reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine level (IL-6) significantly (P