Herbal Andrographis, the Potential Anti-inflammation and Infection Functional Remedy

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a herbal plant for the treatment of inflammatory diseases with no side effects, according to the studies.

Inflammation is a natural reaction of the immune system self-protection to remove harmful stimuli, including damaged cells, irritants, pathogens... from our body.

Acute inflammatory inflammation is a result of the over-response of the immune system after sensing the injury or damage of the body through activating the protein associated with the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

The aim of the proinflammatory cytokines is to kill the invasive pathogens, which try to enter the body through the wound.

The immune system in the stimulating production of proinflammatory cytokines may induce overproduction of these cytokines can cause death or damage to the nearby cells, leading to scar formation and symptoms of localized swelling, redness and fever.

Chronic inflammation is a serious condition caused by the immune system adapt to the new change due to its inability to kill all the invasion within a set of times.

Some researchers in the observation of the history of immune evolution suggested that immune system also try to adapt to the new environment such as chronic inflammation if, for whatever reasons, it can not fill all invasive pathogens within 3 to weeks, leading to the development of several diseases and conditions, including some cancers and rheumatoid arthritis.

Furthermore, chronic inflammation can also be caused by the autoimmune disorder, which involves your immune system mistakenly attacking healthy tissue, long-term exposure to irritants, such as industrial chemicals or polluted air.

Dr. Anne M. Minihane, the lead scientist in the study "Low-grade inflammation, diet composition, and health: current research evidence and its translation" wrote, "An unresolved inflammatory response is likely to be involved from the early stages of disease development" and " The latest research in the areas of acute and chronic inflammation and cardiometabolic, gut and cognitive health is presented along with the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying inflammation–health/disease associations".

And. " Such approaches are likely to provide a more discriminating means of quantifying inflammation–health/disease associations, and the ability of diet to positively modulate inflammation and provide the much-needed evidence to develop research portfolios that will inform new product development and associated health claims".

The results clearly suggested that adding certain amounts of anti-inflammatory foods into your diet may be the best way to prevent chronic inflammatory diseases.
Andrographis paniculata is also known as Andrographis is a herbaceous plant, genus Andrographis, belonging to the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka. It has been used in traditional Siddha and Ayurvedic in treating the common cold, flu, upper respiratory infections, infectious diseases, diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, pneumonia, swollen lymph nodes, leprosy, bronchitis, sore throats, tuberculosis, chicken pox, etc.

Besides the main ingredient andrographolides, giving the plant a bitter taste, other ingredients includediterpene lactones, such as neoandrographolide, andrographiside, 14-doexy-11, 12-didehydro andrographolide, etc., flavonoinds viz., oroxylin, wogonin, andrographidines A, B, C, D, E, F.


With an aim to reaffirm the traditional use of Andrographis paniculata for treatment of infection and inflammation, researchers examined the effects of Andrograpanin, one of the diterpene lactones in A. paniculata in vivo and in vitro.

Application of Andrograpanin inhibited the NO and other 3 pro-inflammatory cytokines in a range from 5-90 microM at a dose-dependent manner.

The efficacy of anti-inflammatory activity of Andrograpanin was associated with the reduction of the expression of iNOS, enzymes in catalyzing the production of NO and pro-inflammatory cytokines gene (proteins) expression.

Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory effects were contributed by inhibiting the protein (p38) and (mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKs)) which are responsive to stress stimuli, p38 and stress response.

Dr. Liu J, after taking into account co and confounders wrote, "andrograpanin might be useful as a potential anti-inflammatory leading compound for inflammatory drug development".

Additional analysis of other major compound isolated from herbal Andrographis, researchers looked into Human β-defensin-2 (hBD-2), an inducible antimicrobial peptide that plays an important role in innate immunity. 

As a prediction, according to the PCR and Western blot assays, injection of Andro (1.0-10 µmol/L) exhibits the expression of hBD-2 in a dose-dependent manner.

However, under the expression of SB203580 (an inhibitor of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK)), MG-132 (an inhibitor of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)), and an NF-κB activator inhibitor, but not by an inhibitor of ERK (PD98059) or by an inhibitor of JNK(SP600125), the effects of hBD-2 mRNA and protein expression in responsive to andro were attenuated.

These results clearly suggested andro exert its antimicrobial effects by exhibiting the expression of hBD-2 through regulating the functions of the innate immune response against stress and stimuli.

Taken altogether, herbal Andrographis processed high levels of bioactive compounds may be considered a functional remedy against inflammation and infection.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(2) Xiang-Qi-Tang and its active components exhibit anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant properties by inhibiting MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways in LPS-treated rat cardiac microvascular endothelial cells BY He CL, Yi PF, Fan QJ, Shen HQ, Jiang XL, Qin QQ, Song Z, Zhang C, Wu SC, Wei XB, Li YL, Fu BD. (PubMed)
(3) Andrographolide exerted its antimicrobial effects by upregulation of human β-defensin-2 induced through p38 MAPK and NF-κB pathway in human lung epithelial cells by Shao ZJ, Zheng XW, Feng T, Huang J, Chen J, Wu YY, Zhou LM, Tu WW, Li H.(PubMed).
(4) Andrograpanin, isolated from Andrographis paniculata, exhibits anti-inflammatory property in lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophage cells through down-regulating the p38 MAPKs signaling pathways by Liu J, Wang ZT, Ge BX.(PubMed)
(5) Low-grade inflammation, diet composition and health: current research evidence and its translation by Anne M. Minihane, 1 ,* Sophie Vinoy, 2 Wendy R. Russell, 3 Athanasia Baka, 4 Helen M. Roche,5 Kieran M. Tuohy, 6 Jessica L. Teeling, 7 Ellen E. Blaak, 8 Michael Fenech, 9 David Vauzour, 1Harry J. McArdle, 3 Bas H. A. Kremer, 10 Luc Sterkman, 11 Katerina Vafeiadou, 12Massimo Massi Benedetti, 13 Christine M. Williams, 14 and Philip C. Calder. (PMC)