Anti-allergic activity of some selected plants in the genus Boesenbergia and Kaempferia

Ethanolic and water extracts from the rhizomes of eight selected Zingiberaceous plants, including Boesenbergia thorelii, Boesenbergia sp 1, Boesenbergia sp 2, Boesenbergia sp 3, Kaempferia angustifolia, Kaempferia marginata, Kaempferia rotunda and Kaempferia sp were tested for their anti-allergic activities using the rat basophilic leukemia strain 2H3 (RBL-2H3) cell line. Both the ethanolic (EtOH) and water extracts of Boesenbergia thorelii exhibited the most potent anti-allergic effects against antigen-induced â-hexosaminidase release as a marker of degranulation in RBL-2H3 cells, with IC50 values of 23.0 and 26.3 g/ml, respectively. Other extracts also had some activity from Boesenbergia sp 2 (EtOH, IC50 = 38.3 g/ml), Kaempferia marginata (water, IC50 = 38.4 g/ml), Boesenbergia sp 3 (EtOH, IC50 = 49.4 g/ml) and Kaempferia angustifolia (water, IC50 = 55.6 g/ml), whereas other Boesenbergia and Kaempferia spp had little or no activity. These findings support the use of Boesenbergia thorelii for the treatment of allergies and allergy-related diseases.