Screening of medicinal plant extracts for antioxidant activity

The methanol extracts of nine medicinal plants traditionally used in Chinese medicine were screened for antioxidant activity versus resveratrol, which has been shown to protect cells from oxidative damage [Toxicol. Lett. 102 (1998) 5]. Most of the plant extracts used in this study inhibited the H 2O...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLife sciences (1973) Vol. 73; no. 2; pp. 167 - 179
Main Authors Lee, Si Eun, Hwang, Hyun Jin, Ha, Jung-Sun, Jeong, Han-Seung, Kim, Jeong Hee
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands Elsevier Inc 30.05.2003
Subjects
Animals
Antioxidant activity
Antioxidant enzymes
Antioxidants - pharmacology
Apoptosis
Cell Division - drug effects
Cells, Cultured
Cricetinae
Free Radical Scavengers - pharmacology
Lipid Peroxidation - drug effects
Mesocricetus
Plant Extracts - pharmacology
Plants, Medicinal
Radical scavenging
Superoxide Dismutase - metabolism
Antioxidant activity
Antioxidant enzymes
Radical scavenging
Apoptosis
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Summary:The methanol extracts of nine medicinal plants traditionally used in Chinese medicine were screened for antioxidant activity versus resveratrol, which has been shown to protect cells from oxidative damage [Toxicol. Lett. 102 (1998) 5]. Most of the plant extracts used in this study inhibited the H 2O 2-induced apoptosis of Chinese hamster lung fibroblast (V79-4) cells. The extracts of Areca catechu var. dulcissima, Paeonia suffruticosa, Alpinia officinarum, Glycyrrhiza uralensis and Cinnamomun cassia strongly enhanced viability against H 2O 2-induced oxidative damage in V79-4 cells. Relatively high levels of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity were detected in extracts of Areca catechu var. dulcissima, Paeonia suffruticosa and Cinnamomun cassia (IC 50 < 6.0 μg/ml). The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were dose-dependently enhanced in V79-4 cells treated with most of the plant extracts. The extracts of Areca catechu var. dulcissima showed higher antioxidant activity than resveratrol in all experiments. These results suggest that the plant extracts prevent oxidative damage in normal cells probably because of their antioxidant characteristics.
ISSN:0024-3205
1879-0631
DOI:10.1016/S0024-3205(03)00259-5