Évaluation des activités antioxydante et anti-inflammatoire de Erica arborea L. du Maroc

Abstract

AimThe present study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity, and acute toxicity of Moroccan Erica arborea leaves. MethodsAntioxidant capacity was assessed by diphenyle-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), phosphomolybdate (PPM) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) tests and anti-inflammatory capacity was evaluated by hind paw oedema model using carrageenan-induced inflammation in rat. The acute toxicity was evaluated using mice. ResultsAcute toxicity of ethanolic extract of E. arborea showed no sign of toxicity at dose of 5g/kg B.W. Our extracts have important antioxidant properties. The efficient concentration of the ethanolic extract (10.22μg/ml) required for decreasing initial DPPH concentration by 50% was comparable to that of standard solution butyl-hydroxy-toluene (BHT) (8.87μg/ml). The administration of ethanolic extract at doses of 200 and 400mg/kg B.W. was able to prevent plantar oedema and exhibited a significant inhibition against carrageenan-induced inflammation when compared to the control group (NaCl 0.9%) but comparable to those of diclofenac (reference drug). ConclusionsOur results show that the leaves of E. arborea may contain some bioactive compounds which are responsible for the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities observed here. Our finding may indicate the possibility of using the extracts of this plant to prevent the antioxidant and inflammatory processes.