Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of ethanol extracts from medicinal herb mixtures.

摘要

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of ethanol extracts from medicinal herbs and 3 medicinal herb mixtures were investigated in vitro. Contents of total polyphenols in ethanol extracts from Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (HC), Carthamus tinctorius L. (CT), and a herb mixture (MIX-1; H. cordata, Acanthopanax gracilistylus, C. tinctorius and Kalopanax pictus) were 58.98, 60.79 and 57.74 mg/g respectively. Radical scavenging activities of the ethanol extracts were examined using alpha, alpha-diphenyl- beta-picrylhydrazyl radicals and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) assay. Anti-inflammatory effects of ethanol extracts from herb mixture MIX-2 (A. gracilistylus, K. pictus, C. tinctorius and H. cordata) were examined using 5-lipoxygenase (5- LO), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and nitric oxide (NO) inhibition assays. The ethanol extracts from MIX-2 showed higher 5-LO and COX-2 inhibition activities than those from single medicinal herbs. The ethanol extracts from medicinal herb mixtures also showed strong anti-inflammatory activity through inhibition of NO production.