Protective Effect of Plantago major Extract against t-BOOH-Induced Mitochondrial Oxidative Damage and Cytotoxicity.

Joyce Mello,Vivian Moraes,Mariano Gonzalez,Tiago Rodrigues,Otaciro Nascimento,Tatiana Prieto

doi:10.3390/molecules201017747

Abstract

Plantago major L. produces several chemical substances with anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities and its use in the treatment of oral and throat inflammation in popular medicine is well described. In this study, the antioxidant potential of the Plantago major hydroethanolic extract was screened and its protective action was evaluated against t-BOOH-induced oxidative stress. The extract was obtained by fractionated percolation using 50% ethanolic solution and, after drying, suspended in dimethyl sulfoxide. The chromatographic profile of crude extract was obtained with the identification of some phytochemical markers and the total phenols and flavonoids were quantified. The scavenger activity against DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radicals was determined and the antioxidant activity in biological systems was evaluated in isolated rat liver mitochondria and HepG2 cells. The extract exhibited a significant free radical scavenger activity at 0.1 mg/mL, and decreased the ROS (reactive oxygen species) generation in succinate-energized mitochondria. Such an effect was associated with the preservation of the intrinsic antioxidant defenses (reduced glutathione and NAD(P)H) against the oxidation by t-BOOH, and also to the protection of membranes from lipid oxidation. The cytoprotective effect of PmHE against t-BOOH induced cell death was also shown. These findings contribute to the understanding of the health benefits attributed to P. major.

Highlights

Oxidative damage as a result of the action of free radicals is considered the major cause of aging [1]and the emergence of many diseases [2], including diabetes [3] and cancer [4]
Polyphenols, including flavonoids, are abundant secondary metabolites produced by plants with antioxidant activity, and suitable extractive methods are needed to obtain such compounds in their active form [9,10,24,25]
In order to standardize the P. major extract, firstly the amount of total phenols and flavonoids contained in 0.1 mg/mL P. major hydroethanolic extract (PmHE) were quantified

Summary

Introduction

Oxidative damage as a result of the action of free radicals is considered the major cause of aging [1]and the emergence of many diseases [2], including diabetes [3] and cancer [4]. Due to the large number of substances with antioxidant potential synthesized during secondary metabolism of plants, antioxidants derived from medicinal plants have been studied extensively in search of new compounds with the capacity to decrease the production or eliminate free radicals produced [9,10]. In this sense, the study of antioxidant activity in plants commonly used in folk medicine must be considered, since many effects attributed to plants may have antioxidant contribution of efficacy such as anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective effects [11,12,13,14]. P. major extracts are often used in traditional medicine to treat oral wounds and throat inflammation, due to its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic effects [16,17,18]

Methods

Results

Conclusion