Celery preparations have been used extensively for several millennia as natural
therapies for acute and chronic painful or inflammatory conditions. This chapter reviews some of the biological and chemical properties of various celery preparations that have been used as natural remedies. Many of these have varying activities and product qualities. A fully standardized celery preparation has been prepared known as an alcoholic extract of the seeds of a plant source derived from northern India. This is termed, Celery Seed Extract (CSE) and has been found to be at least as effective as
aspirin,
ibuprofen, and
naproxen in suppressing
arthritis in a model of
polyarthritis. CSE can also reduce existing
inflammation in rats. CSE has also been shown to provide
analgesia in two model systems. CSE, in addition to acting as an
analgesic and inflammatory agent, has been shown to protect against and/or reduce gastric irritation caused by
NSAIDs, as well as act synergistically with them to reduce
inflammation. The CSE was fractionated by organic
solvent extractions, then subjected to column chromatography followed by HPLC and was characterized by mass spectrometry. This yielded a purified component that had specific inhibitory effects on Helicobacter pylori but was not active against Campylobacter jejuni or Escherichia coli. Additionally, toxicology studies did not reveal any clear signs of toxicity at doses relevant to human use. Also, unlike many dietary supplements, the available data suggest that CSE does not significantly affect the
p450 enzyme systems and thus is less likely to alter the metabolism of drugs the individual may be taking. CSE may be a prototype of a natural product that can be used therapeutically to treat
arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.