Ixora coccinea fruit inhibit the secretory phospholipase A2-IIA activity and exhibit antioxidant efficacy: An attempt of assessing anti-inflammatory function

Abstract

Ixora coccinea fruits found in Western Ghats are widely used in Indian folk medicine for treating a wide variety of
diseases such as dysentery, ulcers, gonorrhea, and inflammatory diseases. This study assessed the antioxidant and antiinflammatory
function of I. coccinea to validate the folklore usage for disease treatment. The fruit’s phytoconstituents
have been determined by the phytochemical screening, which contains phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids,
saponins, and alkaloids. Aqueous and different solvent extracts of I. coccinea fruit extracts were assessed for antioxidant
efficacy. Among, the aqueous extract exhibited better antioxidant activity (81.12% ± 1.2); further, it showed reducing
power activity to 71.14% ± 4.4. Further the I. coccinea fruit inhibited secretory phospholipase A2 enzyme by egg
yolk plate method. The aqueous extract showed sPLA2-IIA inhibition to a good extent that was revealed by zone of
inhibition (50%). The fruit extract neutralized sPLA2-IIA-induced hemolytic activity (IC50 50.22 μg) and showed the
comparable effectiveness in the neutralization of PLA2-IIA-induced mouse paw edema (117.35% ± 2.74) with the
IC50 value of 45.12 ± 1.36 μg. Furthermore, the aqueous extract of I. coccinea prevents the denaturation of proteins,
which is one of the aspects of the anti-inflammatory activity. Thus, the experimental findings justified the therapeutic
applications of the I. coccinea fruit in the indigenous system of medicine.