Abstract
Euryale ferox has been widely used in traditional oriental medicine to treat a variety of illness. However, very little is known about the cellular actions by which this plant mediates its therapeutic effects. Various aspects of antioxidant activity were evaluated in total extracts and fractions derived from Euryale ferox. Total extracts (IC50 5.6 microg/ml) showed relatively high level radical scavenging activity toward 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and also enhanced viability of Chinese hamster lung fibroblast (V79-4) cells under exposure to oxidative agents. Upon further fractionation, the highest levels of DPPH radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation inhibitory activities were found in the ethyl acetate and butanol fractions. The ethyl acetate fractions, the butanol fractions, and total extracts of Euryale ferox also dose-dependently enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase in V79-4 cells. Of these three antioxidant enzymes, glutathione peroxidase activity was most strongly induced. Taken together, our findings show that Euryale ferox contains a significant antioxidant activity and that specific components in the ethyl acetate and butanol fractions may play an important role in mediating these antioxidant properties.
Highlights
IntroductionOxidative modification of DNA, proteins, lipids and small cellular molecules by reactive oxygen species (ROS)plays a role in a wide range of common diseases and age-related degenerative conditions (for review see Finkel and Holbrook, 2000)
Oxidative modification of DNA, proteins, lipids and small cellular molecules by reactive oxygen species (ROS)plays a role in a wide range of common diseases and age-related degenerative conditions
DPPH radical scavenging activity of total extracts and fractions of Euryale ferox The antioxidant activities of Euryale ferox extracts were evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging activity, by the protective effect on cell viability, and by inhibition of lipid peroxidation
Summary
Oxidative modification of DNA, proteins, lipids and small cellular molecules by reactive oxygen species (ROS)plays a role in a wide range of common diseases and age-related degenerative conditions (for review see Finkel and Holbrook, 2000). Oxidative modification of DNA, proteins, lipids and small cellular molecules by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Disease states which are known to be affected by ROS include cardiovascular disease (Witztum, 1993), neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (Frlich and Riederer, 1995), mutations and cancer (Borek, 1991). To protect themselves against toxic free radicals and other ROS, cells have developed a variety of antioxidant defenses. These include enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), which dismutates superoxide; catalase (CAT), which converts hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen, and glutathione peroxidase (GPX), which destroys toxic peroxides. Other molecules that can counteract ROS include glutathione, flavonoids, ubiquinol, glucose, and albumin. External sources of antioxidative protection include vitamins C, E, A, and provitamin A, as well as the minerals selenium and zinc (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 1998)
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