Coffea arabica extracts and their chemical constituents in a murine model of gouty arthritis: How they modulate pain and inflammation

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Coffea arabica is commonly known for its cardiotonic and neurotonic activities, but in some places' folk medicine, like in Arabia and Africa, C. arabica is used to treat headache, migraine, the flu, anemia, oedema, asthenia, asthma, inflammation and wounds. Aims of the study: The aims were to evaluate if the aqueous extracts of Coffea arabica, prepared from beans with different degrees of roasting, and their main chemical constituents could exert an in vivo anti-gouty effect. Materials and methods: Coffea extracts were obtained from the beans of not roasted, light, medium and dark roasted coffee and from decaffeinated and traditional coffees and were prepared with water at 25 degrees C and at 98 degrees C. C57BL/6 mice were induced to gout by an injection of monosodium urate crystals and treated with coffee extracts at doses of 25, 75 and 225 mg/kg and their chemical constituents at a dose of 10 mg/kg. The antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects were evaluated. Results: Treatments with Coffea extracts prepared with water at 98 degrees C were more effective to exert antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities than the ones prepared with water at 25 degrees C. Caffeic and chlorogenic acids reduced hypernociception in animals when compared with negative control group (7.79 and 5.69 vs 18.53; P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively), inhibited neutrophil migration (1.59 x 104 and 0.38 x 104 vs 9.47 x 104; P < 0.0001 both) and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines concentration (IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha). Conclusions: We have demonstrated that our treatments attenuated gout, and this effect could be attributed to a reducement in hypernociception, neutrophil migration and cytokines concentration. These results suggest coffee as a potential candidate for studies in acute gout therapy.

Automated summary

The study demonstrated that coffee extracts prepared with water at 98 degrees C were more effective in exerting anti-gouty and anti-inflammatory activities. Caffeic and chlorogenic acids were found to decrease hypernociception, inhibit neutrophil migration, and reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines concentration, suggesting coffee as a potential candidate for acute gout therapy studies.