Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. (Apiaceae) is a renowned medicinal plant being used in the Ayurvedic system for its pharmacological effects on the central nervous system such as rejuvenating, sedative, anxiolytic and memory-enhancing properties. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of Centella asiatica (CA) extract on inflammatory responses induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and resulting changes in cognitive behavior. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups as control, LPS, CA and LPS + CA. The treatments with LPS (5 mg/kg) were intraperitoneally (i.p) injected on day 4 and CA ethanol extract (200 mg/kg) were given orally for 14 days. Morris Water Maze (MWM) test was performed to assess spatial learning and memory performance. Acute oral toxicity of the extract at the highest dose of 5000 mg/kg was also conducted. Single administration of LPS was able to significantly elicit learning and memory impairment (p < .05) when compared to the control groups. Treatment with CA significantly improved the impaired learning ability in which the LPS + CA rats took the shortest time and route to find the hidden platform (15.85 ± 2.68 s (p < .001); 352.43 ± 88.10 cm (p < .001) on day 5) and induced differential cytokine responses in the blood. No mortality and no significant variation in the body and organ weights between the control and the treated group was observed after 14 days of acute toxicity study. Hematological analysis and biochemical parameters revealed no toxic effects of the extract. Pathologically, neither gross abnormalities nor histopathological changes were observed. Centella asiatica extract exhibited significant learning and memory enhancement potential in animal model. Hence, indicating its putative preventive therapeutic effects in neuroinflammation related diseases.KEY MESSAGEA single dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 mg/kg) administered systemically to mimic the consequences of LPS-induced inflammatory responses was able to affect some behavioral modification of spatial memory at the time point of study.The study showed that the learning capability during the training trial was restored or ameliorated with the pre-emptive treatment of Centella asiatica extract (200 mg/kg).Centella asiatica extract improves spatial memory, learning deficits and regulates proinflammatory responses in systemic LPS-treated rats.

Moringa oleifera L. is a valuable multipurpose tree species widely planted for centuries due to its high medicinal value and antifungal, antiviral, antidepressant, and anti-inflammatory properties in the food industry. However, its cultivation is hindered by production constraints such as the unavailability of planting material and the inadequate number of high-yielding clones. Thus, a study was initiated to select high-yielding clones in terms of growth and chemical content for the mass propagation of superior moringa trees. Screening on high-yielding clones with high astragalin content was conducted through the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of moringa leaf extract. Selected genotypes were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory potential through in vitro bioactivity assays of leaf methanol extract. The effects of the rooting hormone, rooting substrates, and size of the cutting on the rooting response of branch cuttings of moringa were investigated. Results found that samples collected from different ecological zones of Peninsular Malaysia show significant variation in terms of astragalin content. The extracts were observed to show considerable variation in biological activity against the pro-inflammatory enzymes. The size of the cuttings had significant effects on the rooting of the cuttings as longer cuttings with bigger diameters rooted better than shorter cuttings with smaller diameters. Several genotypes of M. oleifera with superior phenotypic characteristics and bioactive compounds have been identified. Factors affecting the rooting efficiency and optimal conditions of rooting are suggested, which provides valuable information for the propagation of the superior planting material of moringa. This effort will ensure the sustainable production and supply of good quality raw materials for the production of quality end-products for the food and pharmaceutical industry.

The 15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX) plays a key role in various diseases associated with inflammation. A geranylated acylphloroglucinol, namely 2,4,6-trihydroxy-3-geranylacetophenone or tHGA, 1 is a natural lead compound which exhibited significant LOXs inhibition. To further improve its 15-LOX inhibitory activity, xanthone moiety was incorporated into its scaffold using molecular hybridization (MH). In vitro soybean 15-LOX inhibition showed that all synthesized hybrids, 8a-c , 9a-c showed 4.5 to 590 times higher activity than tHGA, 1 with IC ₅₀ values ranging from 0.04 to 5.27 µM. Structure activity relationships (SARs) identified that aromatic substitutions (–Cl, –N(C ₂ H ₅ ) ₂ ) on ring C of xanthenone improved activity. The most potent hybrid, 9b exhibited the highest docking score (−10.67 kcal/mol), with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (100 ns) validating its strong soybean 15-LOX inhibitory potential. The results suggest the therapeutic potential of these LOX inhibitors in inflammation and provide valuable insight and understanding for further structural optimization around the tHGA 1 scaffold.