Aloe Vera And Gibberellin
Anti-Inflammatory Activity In Diabetes

Abstract

Aloe vera inhibits inflammation and
adjuvant-induced arthritis.

Aloe vera inhibits inflammation and adjuvant-induced arthritis. The authors’ laboratory has demonstrated that Aloe vera improves wound healing in a dose-response fashion, reduces edema and pain, but does not decrease the granuloma tissue around a foreign substance under the skin.^1-3 This suggests that Aloe acts on an acute anti-inflammatory basis and does not act like a steroid.

Aloe vera is a clear mucilaginous gel within the leaf of the spiney Aloe barbadensis plant. Investigation of the chemical composition of the gel indicates that it includes minerals, vitamins, monosaccharides, polysaccharides, and enzymes. Other ingredients believed to be responsible for Aloe’s healing powers are lignins, which, with cellulose, penetrate human skin; saponins, with antiseptic capabilities; and anthraquinones, which are believed to be a pain-related component.⁴ The authors focus on the carbohydrate fraction of Aloe vera. Based on evidence in the literature and the authors’ studies, the authors wondered if a main, active component in Aloe is glycoside. Corbin et al⁵ found that indole acetic acid, a plant auxin, appears to have anti-inflammatory properties.

Diabetic animals were used in the study because of their poor healing and anti-inflammatory capabilities. Biochemical alterations in the microvasculature of diabetics make them vulnerable to injections and prolong the healing response.

The authors determine if gibberellin, a glycolic and growth hormone found in plants, could account for some of the anti-inflammatory activity Aloe vera possesses. The antiphlogistic activity of colorized (with anthraquinones) Aloe vera and gibberellin in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice at 2, 20, and 100 mg/kg subcutaneously was determined by measuring the inhibition of polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration into a 2% gelatin-induced inflammation. The reduction of polymorphonuclear leukocyte cells at the site of inflammation is a standard technique to measure acute inflammatory activity.

Materials And Methods

The animals were killed 3 hr. following the second injection. Incisions were made along the indicated circumscribed area so that subdermal tissue could be removed and stained. Polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration in the circumscribed inflamed area was determined by staining the subdermal tissue with Wright stain. Three separate sections of each excised tissue were randomly chosen for viewing under a light microscope, high power. Mean and standard errors were calculated for polymorphonuclear leukocyte cell counts. The Student t-test was used to determine p values.⁶

Table 1
Comparison of Aloe vera & Gibberellin on Polymorphonuclear
Leukocyte Infiltrationin Diabetic Mice^a

Results And Discussion

The growth of root tips has demonstrated the dependence of the root on the shoot for carbohydrates, vitamins, and enzymes. The chemical determinant for growth and differentiation depends on plant growth hormones called auxins. These are essential for growth. Gibberellin was first isolated from mass cultures of fungus by Japanese investigators⁷ who observed an increase in elongation growth in dwarfed plants. This hormone is universally distributed in taller plants. Gibberellic acid (GA₃) tends to be the most active of all the chemically identified gibberellins.^{8, 9} Key¹⁰ indicates that the auxin-like substance, gibberellic acid, is a significant mediator in plant tissue growth because it enhances cell enlargement. The ability of gibberellic acid to enhance the rate of cell elongation is dependent on new RNA and protein synthesis.^{11, 12} These data would tend to suggest a wound-healing property. Since gibberellin stimulates protein synthesis as well as the DNA-RNA system in cells, it may have a value in healing wounds as it reduces inflammation.^13-16

Infiltration of polymorphonuclear leukocyte cells into the wound area is an important cellular response to injury. Polymorphonuclear leukocyte activity might be a chemotactic response to hydrolysis products from the protein of the injured tissues.¹⁷ These cells first marginate to the walls of the microcirculation in the injured area, then emigrate between the endothelial cells of the vessel wall, and, finally, migrate from the vessel through the ground substance to the site of the injury. Phagocytes, found in acutely traumatized tissue, are responsible for release of tissue-damaging lysosomal enzymes.¹⁸ The auxins present in certain plant extracts are probably related to steroid-like compounds. This would account for the anti-inflammatory effect gibberellin has on gelatin-induced edema. Unlike steroids, which are antianabolic, gibberellins increase protein synthesis.¹⁹ They would, therefore tend to heal wounds. Microsomes from auxin-treated tissue incorporate amino acid into protein at a higher rate than untreated tissue.

Aloe vera and gibberellin have similar anti-inflammatory activity in diabetic animals. The activity of gibberellin-like substances possibly plays a major role in the wound healing and anti-inflammatory activity of Aloe vera. Unlike steroids, Aloe vera and gibberellin inhibit inflammation but do not retard wound healing. This study helps redefine inflammation as it relates to wound healing.

References

Whole Leaf Aloe Vera - Anti-Inflammatory Activity In Diabetes