Cissus quadrangularisis a traditional herbal medicine commonly used for bone healing.¹ The herb has analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. In acute phase of inflammation, Cissus has been shown to evoke an inhibitory effect on edema formation in experimental models.² Inflammatory mediators play a major role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) and bone destruction.³

A study assessed the anti-inflammatory activity and the molecular mechanism of the ethyl acetate extract of Cissus quadrangularis stem (CQE) in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells.¹ CQE was found to inhibit lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production and also suppressed the mRNA and protein expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and p65 NF-κB nuclear translocation. It inducedheme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) gene expression at the protein and mRNA levels.¹

C. quadrangularis has been found to induce significant anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective mechanisms on human chondrocytes preexposed to IL-1β cytokine.³ Treatment with the herb has been shown to relieve IL-1β induced cell toxicity and upregulated cell growth and proliferation. C. quadrangularis inhibited gene expression of cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) that aggravate cartilage and bone destruction. Osteotomizedexperimental models treated with C. quadrangularis had markedly enhanced alkaline phosphatase and cartilage tissue formation. The study thus confirmed the anti-inflammatory and cartilage-regenerative properties of C. quadrangularis. Cissus has been shown to weaken bone resorption in experimental models.⁴ Significant decreases in the serum levels of IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α have been observed with Cissus diet.⁴

The above-mentioned data thus clearly suggest that C. quadrangularis exerts anti-inflammatory effects and has cartilage-regenerative properties.

References

1. Srisook K1, Palachot M, Mongkol N, et al. Anti-inflammatory effect of ethyl acetate extract from Cissusquadrangularis Linn may be involved with induction of heme oxygenase-1 and suppression of NF-κB activation. J Ethnopharmacol. 2011 Feb 16;133(3):1008-14.
2. Panthong A, Supraditaporn W, Kanjanapothi D, et al. Analgesic, anti-inflammatory and venotonic effects of Cissusquadrangularis Linn. J Ethnopharmacol. 2007 Mar 21;110(2):264-70.
3. Kanwar JR, Samarasinghe RM, Kumar K, et al.Cissusquadrangularis inhibits IL-1β induced inflammatory responses on chondrocytes and alleviates bone deterioration in osteotomized rats via p38 MAPK signalling. Drug Des DevelTher. 2015 Jun 5;9:2927-40.
4. Banu J, Varela E, Bahadur AN, et al. Inhibition of Bone Loss by Cissusquadrangularis in Mice: A Preliminary Report.Journal of Osteoporosis Volume 2012, Article ID 101206, 10 pages.