Antioxidant properties of the carotenoid extracts of three Deinococcus­Thermus phylum bacteria, Meiothermus sp. strains RP and TP and Thermus sp. strain YY from Paniphala hot spring, India

BACKGROUND:The purpose of the study was to extract carotenoids from thermophilic bacteria which show efficient antioxidant and protein oxidation inhibition properties, characterize and identify those isolates, extract the carotenoids in different solvents, quantify the carotenoids and perform concentration-dependent and solvent-dependent quantitative assays validated and analysed by appropriate statistical tests. METHODS: Three pigment-forming thermophilic strains were isolated from water sample of Paniphala hot spring, India, and tentatively identified by 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) homology. Different concentrations of the carotenoid extracts (100, 80, 40 and 20µg) in three solvents, methanol, DMSO and water, were used to determine the antioxidant activity through five methods: the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) assay, the ABTS (2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenz-thiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) assay, the hydrogen peroxide assay, TOC (total antioxidant capacity) assay and inhibition of protein oxidation assay. Statistical analysis of mean, standard deviation, ANOVA and Pearson correlationcoefficient was performed in Microsoft Excel statistical package.Results:The isolates were tentatively identified as Meiothermussp. strain RP, Meiothermussp. strain TP and Thermusstrain YY.Meiothermussp. formed red coloured pigment, where as Thermussp. formed yellow coloured pigment. Allof the extracts showed positive results in DPPH assay, ABTS assay and hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging assaywith best results obtained when the extracts were dissolved in water. Total antioxidant capacity assay was also highin all the extracts. Protein oxidation inhibition activity was only seen in extracts of strain YY. One-way ANOVA(analysis of variance) clearly showed that choice of solvent influenced the antioxidant capacity of all of the extracts. CONCLUSIONS: Newer and efficient antioxidative compounds are constantly being searched for, and the carotenoid extracts of RP, TP and YY have been shown to catalyze various types of antioxidative reactions, including proteinoxidation inhibition by YY. Thus, all these extracts have huge potential to be industrially and pharmaceutically useful.

Herbal extracts differentially inhibit oxidative effects caused by the biotransformation of nifurtimox, nitrofurantoin and acetaminophen on rat liver microsomes / Extractos herbales inhiben diferencialmente los efectos oxidativos causados por la biotransformación de nifurtimox, nitrofurantoína y acetaminofeno en microsomas hepáticos de rata]

Inflammation is a cellular defensive mechanism associated to oxidative stress. The administration of nitrofurantoin, nifurtimox and acetaminophen generates oxidative stress by their biotransformation through CYP450 system. The main adverse effect described for the first two drugs is gastrointestinal inflammation and that of the last, hepatitis. Therefore, standardised dry extracts from Rosmarinus officinalis, Buddleja globosa Hope, Cynara scolymus L., Echinacea purpurea and Hedera helix were tested to evaluate their capacity to decrease drug-induced oxidative stress. For that, rat liver microsomes were incubated with drugs in the presence of NADPH (specific CYP450 system cofactor) to test oxidative damage on microsomal lipids, thiols, and GST activity. All drugs tested induced oxidation of microsomal lipids and thiols, and inhibition of GST activity. Herbal extracts prevented these phenomena in different extension. These results show that antioxidant phytodrugs previously evaluated could alleviate drugs adverse effects associated to oxidative stress.

Inflamación es un mecanismo de defensa el cual está asociado a estrés oxidativo. La administración de nitrofurantoína, nifurtimox y paracetamol genera estrés oxidativo al metabolizarse a través del sistema CYP450. El principal efecto adverso de los dos primeros fármacos es inflamación gastrointestinal y del tercero, hepatitis. Por lo tanto, utilizamos diversos extractos herbales para disminuir el estrés oxidativo inducido por estos fármacos. Para esto se incubaron microsomas hepáticos de rata con dichos fármacos en presencia de NADPH (cofactor específico del sistema CYP450) y se evaluó el daño oxidativo generado sobre los lípidos, los tioles y la actividad GST microsómica. Todos los fármacos indujeron oxidación de los lípidos y los tioles microsómicos e inhibieron la actividad GST. Los extractos herbales previnieron estos fenómenos oxidativos en diferente extensión. Estos resultados indican que fitofármacos antioxidantes previamente evaluados, podrían aliviar los efectos adversos asociados a estrés oxidativo de los fármacos.