Anti‐inflammatory Activity of Natural and Synthetic Curcuminoids

The anti-inflammatory activity of three natural curcuminoids and eight synthetic curcuminoids was studied using the mouse paw oedema method. Among the natural curcuminoids, curcumin III was the most effective anti-inflammatory agent. Curcumin III produced an inhibition of 86·8% of the mice paw oedema at a concentration of 50 mg kg−1 body weight whereas curcumin I and curcumin II produced an inhibition of 72·4% and 65·1%, respectively at the same concentration. Among the synthetic curcuminoids, salicyl (63·0% inhibition), veratryl (62·6%) and piperonal (61·1%) curcuminoids were found to be potent anti-inflammatory agents, followed by p-anisyl curcuminoid (58·6%). There was a correlation between the anti-inflammatory activities of the curcuminoids and their observed antioxidant activities, reported earlier.