Study on the anti-inflammatory effect of total flavonoids from Opuntia monacantha(Willd.) Haw

To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of total flavonoids from Opuntia monacantha(Willd.) Haw,total flavonoids was extracted with two different methods including water extraction alcohol precipitation method(WEAP) and ultrasonic wave-alcohol extraction method(UWAE).The anti-inflammatory effect was investigated through three models including acetic acid-induced peritoneal capillary permeability in mice,cotton-pellet granuloma of the mice and egg white-induced rat paw oedema.In result high-dosage of total flavonoids prepared from WEAP and UWAE methods had both significant inhibitory effects on penetration of capillary vessel in mice(P0.01).Moreover,compared with dexamethasone so-dium phosphate,high-dosage of WEAP had a better anti-inflammatory effect.Different doses of total flavonoids prepared from WEAP and UWAE methods also significantly decreased the proliferation of granuloma caused by implantation cotton pellet in mice(P0.01),and anti-inflammatory effect of the high-dosage of WEAP and low-dosage of UWAE was similar to dexamethasone sodium phosphate.Nonetheless,total flavonoids prepared by UWAE method was associated with excessive toxicity and was not suitable for me-dical use.High-dosage of total flavonoids prepared with WEAP method exhibited good attenuation effects on rat paw edema induced by egg white(P0.01),with its anti-inflammatory effect similar to dexamethasone sodium phosphate.In conclusion,total flavonoids from Opuntia monacantha(Willd.) Haw has remarkable anti-inflammatory effects in the animal models of both acute and chronic inflammation.