Inhibition of nitric oxide production and free radical scavenging activities of four South African medicinal plants | Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)

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Citation
Tags

HERO ID

6391553

Reference Type

Journal Article

Title

Inhibition of nitric oxide production and free radical scavenging activities of four South African medicinal plants

Author(s)

Adebayo, SA; Ondua, M; Shai, LJ; Lebelo, SL

Year

2019

Is Peer Reviewed?

Yes

Journal

Journal of Inflammation Research
ISSN: 1178-7031

Publisher

Dove Medical Press Ltd

Volume

Page Numbers

195-203

Language

English

PMID

31496781

DOI

10.2147/JIR.S199377

Web of Science Id

WOS:000479311700001

Abstract

Introduction: Traditional healing is often the preferred form of therapy especially in rural and resource-limited communities. The extracts of plants are used to treat many diseases such as arthritis and chronic pain. Four medicinal plant species, namely, Acokanthera oppositifolia, Plantago lanceolata, Conyza canadensis and Artemisia vulgaris used in Southern Africa to treat pain and inflammation-related diseases were selected for evaluation in laboratory-based experiments.

Methods: The selected plant species were evaluated for phytochemical content, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as cytotoxicity effects against mammalian cells in culture.

Results: The results indicated that the n-hexane and chloroform extracts of P. lanceolata had the best antioxidant activities with an IC50=0.41 μg/mL. Also, the acetone extracts of P. lanceolata had 93.76% nitric oxide (NO) inhibition. However, the chloroform and n-hexane extracts of C. canadensis produced NO inhibition of 98.53% and 99.2%, respectively, at 100 μg/mL with IC50=17.69 μg/mL. Furthermore, the ethyl acetate extracts also had promising NO inhibitory activity (96.33%), but the cytotoxicity results with cell viabilities of 5.31%, 5.7% and 5.89%, respectively, suggested that the observed activity was due to a cytotoxic effect. Acetone extracts of C. canadensis were also cytotoxic at 30 µg/mL with 6.07-6.67% cell viabilities compared with the acetone extracts of P. lanceolata (99.57%).

Conclusion: The results partially validate the ethnomedicinal uses of the selected plant species used for inflammation-related conditions. However, because some of the extracts had potential cytotoxic effects, caution is advised in their use, especially those consumed orally.

Keywords

Free radicals; Inflammation; Medicinal plants; Nitric oxide; South Africa