The major components patuletin and patulitrin were isolated from French marigold (florets of Tagetes patula). Patuletin and patulitrin were found to inhibit acute inflammation in mice. Oral administration of patuletin and patulitrin significantly suppressed hind-paw edema induced by carrageenin and histamine, while topical application of patuletin and patulitrin significantly inhibited ear edema induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and arachidonic acid. Thus, oral and topical administration of patuletin and patulitrin inhibited acute inflammation in mice. These results suggest the anti-inflammatory efficacy of French marigold. 1. Introduction French marigold (florets of Tagetes patula) has been used internally for indigestion and externally for sore eyes and rheumatism. The plant, a member of the family Asteraceae, is a common cultivated ornamental. In general, these flowers are used as a coloring or flavoring agent in food and have potential medical use against inflammatory diseases of the skin, as well as insecticidal activity [1, 2]. Previous phytochemical investigations on French marigold have resulted in the isolation of carotenoids [3, 4], flavonoids [5, 6], and monoterpenoids [7]. In our previous studies, we reported the anti-inflammatory action of French marigold [8, 9], and in this paper, we report the inhibitory effects of the flavonol patuletin and its glucoside from methanol extracts of French marigold on acute inflammation models, such as the hind-paw edema induced by γ-carrageenin and histamine and ear edema induced by arachidonic acid (AA) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Materials Tagetes patula L. was cultivated at the Yamagata Prefectural Horticultural Experiment Station in Yamagata, Japan. A voucher specimen (ER-070) of Tagetes patula L. (Asteraceae) was deposited in the Herbarium of The Yamagata Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Yamagata-shi, Yamagata, Japan. 2.2. Extraction and Separation Raw flower petals of T. patula L. (5？kg) were subjected to extraction twice with MeOH (5？L) at room temperature. Solvents were evaporated in vacuo to dryness, and an extract was obtained (yield: 3.9%). MeOH extract (35？g) was partitioned between EtOAc？H2O (1？:？1). The EtOAc extract (7.2？g) was partitioned between n-hexane？MeOH？H2O (19？:？19？:？2), which afforded an n-hexane fraction (0.94？g) and a MeOH？H2O fraction (6.26？g). On the other hand, the H2O solution was partitioned between n-BuOH？H2O (1？:？1), yielding an n-BuOH extract (4.74？g) and an H2O extract (22.04？g), respectively. The
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