OPTIMIZATION OF THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF CURCUMIN IN COMBINATION WITH EXTRACTS OF PIPER CAPENSE AND SOME AFRAMOMUM SPECIES

Apart from its broad pharmacological potential, curcumin has low bioavailability, which affects its efficient activity in the body. To improve its bioavailability or optimize its pharmacological properties, its combination with extracts of certain plants is considered to be one of the avenues to be explored. The present study aimed to boost the anti-inflammatory potential of curcumin by combining it with extracts of Piper capens and Aframomum species namely Aframomum melegueta, Aframomum angustifolium and Aframomum alboviolaceum). To achieve this, an anti-inflammatory screening was carried out using the rat paw oedema inhibition test. This screening involved aqueous and hydro-ethanolic plant extracts alone and then in combination with natural curcumin. The phytochemical screening was performed following standard protocols. The findings of the anti-inflammatory screening showed that the aqueous extracts of A. alboviolaceum and the hydro-ethanolic extracts of A. melegueta seeds had interesting anti-inflammatory activity (p-value = 0.0000 and p-value = i0.0085 respectively). As for the formulated recipes, the findings revealed that recipes based on curcumin with the aqueous extracts of P. capens, or with the hydro-ethanolic extracts of A. angustifolium leaves and A. melegueta seeds had an optimized anti-inflammatory activity compared with curcumin. Phytochemical analyses revealed the presence of flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins, quinones, terpenoids, alkaloids, phenolic acids and coumarins. The hydro-ethanolic extracts of A. melegueta seeds and A. angustifolium leaves had high levels of total polyphenols. In conclusion, the extracts of P. capense, A. angustifolium and A. melegueta, can be used as adjuvants to boost the anti-inflammatory potential of curcumin.