The Potential Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Brucea javanica (L.) Merr

Inflammation is the initial response to acute and chronic tissue damage, which is characterized by redness, swelling, heat, and pain. Natural products derived from plants have specific pharmacological activity and minimal side effects. Brucea javanica is a plant that has an anti-inflammatory effect, this plant contains alkaloid and flavonoid compounds. Flavonoids have the ability to block cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase while alkaloids as an anti-inflammatory are thought to work by inhibiting prostaglandin H2 PGH2 which is an inflammatory mediator. From the data obtained, there is no complete literature that reviews its use as an anti-inflammatory. The search databases used are as follows: Pubmed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar to study the anti-inflammatory activity of Brucea javanica. All recent research articles were published between 2010 to 2021. Based on eligibility, 4 studies were included in this study, consisting of 2 In vivo studies and 2 In vitro and In vivo studies. A series of pharmacological studies have reported that Brucea javanica can block the Nf-kB signaling pathway and decrease the production of inflammatory mediators. It has been reported to be able to inhibit the production of NO, PGE2, TNF-, IL-1β, IL-18IL-23, COX-2, NF-κB, IFN-γ, IL-6, the levels of MPO (Myeloperoxidase), reducing the edema and induce the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-4, IL-10 and TGF-β). Brucea javanica also markedly activates Nrf2 expression suppressing the inflammatory response-mediated NLRP3 and NF-κB activation. In addition, the elevated mRNA expression of MMP-1, MMP-3 and RAGE was remarkably inhibited by Brucea javanica, while the mRNA expression of PPAR-γ was significantly enhanced. In vitro and in vivo studies strongly indicate that Brucea javanica has the potential as an anti-inflammatory.