Analysis of Boswellic Acid Contents and Related Pharmacological Activities of Frankincense-Based Remedies That Modulate Inflammation
Authors
Friedemann Börner
Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Philosophenweg 14, 07743 Jena, Germany; [email protected] (F.B.); [email protected] (M.W.)
Markus Werner
Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Philosophenweg 14, 07743 Jena, Germany; [email protected] (F.B.); [email protected] (M.W.)
Johannes Ertelt
Heidelberg-Apotheke/AureliaSan GmbH, Steinhofener Str. 12-16, 72406 Bisingen, Germany; [email protected]
Jürgen Meins
Central Laboratory of German Pharmacists, Carl-Mannich-Str. 20, 65760 Eschborn, Germany; [email protected] (J.M.); [email protected] (M.A.-T.)
Mona Abdel-Tawab
Central Laboratory of German Pharmacists, Carl-Mannich-Str. 20, 65760 Eschborn, Germany; [email protected] (J.M.); [email protected] (M.A.-T.)
Oliver Werz
Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Philosophenweg 14, 07743 Jena, Germany; [email protected] (F.B.); [email protected] (M.W.)
Extracts of frankincense, the gum resin of Boswellia species, have been extensively used in traditional folk medicine since ancient times and are still of great interest as promising anti-inflammatory remedies in Western countries. Despite their common therapeutic use and the intensive pharmacological research including studies on active ingredients, modes of action, bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, and clinical efficacy, frankincense preparations are available as nutraceuticals but have not yet approved as a drug on the market. A major issue of commercially available frankincense nutraceuticals is the striking differences in their composition and quality, especially related to the content of boswellic acids (BAs) as active ingredients, mainly due to the use of material from divergent Boswellia species but also because of different work-up and extraction procedures. Here, we assessed three frequently used frankincense-based preparations for their BA content and the interference with prominent pro-inflammatory actions and targets that have been proposed, that is, 5-lipoxygenase and leukotriene formation in human neutrophils, microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase-1, and inflammatory cytokine secretion in human blood monocytes. Our data reveal striking differences in the pharmacological efficiencies of these preparations in inflammation-related bioassays which obviously correlate with the amounts of BAs they contain. In summary, high-quality frankincense extracts display powerful anti-inflammatory effectiveness against multiple targets which can be traced back to BAs as bioactive ingredients.
Keywords: frankincense, boswellic acids, 5-lipoxygenase, microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase-1, inflammation
Author Biography
Mona Abdel-Tawab, Central Laboratory of German Pharmacists, Carl-Mannich-Str. 20, 65760 Eschborn, Germany; [email protected] (J.M.); [email protected] (M.A.-T.)
Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Straße 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Click on "Archives" to access the full archive of scientific preprints. You may use the categories and the search functionality to find select preprints you're interested in.
