Guettarda speciosa is known in traditional folk medicine for treating cough, cold, sore throat, fever, wounds, epilepsy, and headaches. To discover the scientific pharmacological potential of G. speciosa, we explore its anti-inflammatory, cytotoxicity, and inhibition of amyloid-beta (Aβ) aggregation effects. Cyclooxygenase assay of the G. speciosa CHCl3 (GSC) extract and G. speciosa MeOH (GSM) extract are more selective to COX-1 inhibition with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 3.56 μg/mL for the GSC extract and 4.98 μg/mL for the GSM extract. Neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y inhibition and thioflavin T assay amyloid-beta (Aβ) aggregate inhibition of the GSM and GSC extracts showed their potential therapeutic effects against Alzheimer's disease. The putative compounds from the LC-MS analysis could be responsible for the observed activities. The results suggest that G. speciosa possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-neurodegenerative properties and a promising lead as a source of pharmacologically active compounds.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; COX-1; Guettarda speciosa; cytotoxicity; thioflavin T.