Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antiacne Activity of Psorospermum febrifugum (Spach) and Psorospermum corymbiferum (Hochr.)

Abstract

Aim: This study investigated the anti-acne activity, lipase inhibitory effects and antioxidant property of Psorospermum febrifugum and Psorospermum corymbiferum of the family Hypericaceae. Study Design: Antimicrobial as well as in vitro anti lipase and antioxidant analysis of extracts and fractions of P. febrifugum and P. corymbiferum. Place and Duration of Study: Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria between 2014 and 2015. Methodology: Preliminary antimicrobial assay of the plant extracts was by agar-well diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration was determined by agar dilution method. The radical scavenging property was determined using DPPH method and the lipase inhibitory assay of the most potent crude extract was done by direct in vitro measurement of lipase inhibition. Results: Methanolic crude extracts showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Propionibacterium acne with zones of inhibition ranging from 17.00±0.00 to 30.33±1.67. The MIC for the crude extracts was 50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25 mg/mL for P. febrifugum leaf, P. corymbiferum stem, P. corymbiferum leaf and P. febrifugum stem extracts respectively. The IC50 values for P. febrifugum leaf and stem, P. corymbiferum leaf and stem extracts were 0.06, 0.02, 0.12 and 0.04 respectively. At same concentration, the anti-lipase inhibitory activity was higher for P. febrifugum (96%) than Orlistat (82%). Conclusion: The result confirmed the anti-acne and antioxidant activities of the two plants.