Background:

Columbin is a diterpenoid furanolactone with anti-inflammation activity.

Treatment with columbin or l-NAME inhibits LPS/IFN-γ-induced NO production without affecting the viability of RAW264.7. Pre-treatment of stimulated cells with columbin does not inhibit the translocation of NF-κB to the nucleus in LPS-stimulated cells. COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitory activities of columbin are 63.7±6.4% and 18.8±1.5% inhibition at 100μM, respectively. The interaction of columbin with Tyr385 and Arg120 signifies its higher activity in COX-2, as Tyr385 is reported to be involved in the abstraction of hydrogen from C-13 of arachidonate, and Arg120 is critical for high affinity arachidonate binding[1].

Columbin inhibits oedema formation in mice paw. At doses of 300 mg/kg and 700 mg/kg, columbin inhibits inflammation from 0 to 5 h and the results are comparable to that of aspirin as a standard anti-inflammatory drug. The inhibitory effect of columbin on carrageenan induced paw oedema in mice may be due to the suppression of the release of mediators responsible for inflammation including prostaglandin[1]. Columbin is poorly bioavailable (2.8% p.o. and 14% i.p.) in rats, but its transport is rapid across the Caco-2 cell monolayers, suggesting that extensive first-pass metabolism in the liver is the likely reason for its poor bioavailability[2].

[1]. Ibrahim Abdelwahab S, et al. In vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory activities of columbin through the inhibition of cycloxygenase-2 and nitric oxide but not the suppression of NF-κB translocation. Eur J Pharmacol. 2012 Mar 5;678(1-3):61-70. [2]. Yang G, et al. Development and validation of an UPLC-MS/MS method for the quantification of columbin in biological matrices: Applications to absorption, metabolism, and pharmacokinetic studies. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2015 Oct 1;1002:13-8.