Enzyme Inhibition and Antioxidant Activities of Asparagus officinalis L. and Analysis of Its Phytochemical Content by LC/MS/MS.

In the study, water, ethanol, methanol, dichloromethane, and acetone extracts of Asparagus officinalis L. were obtained by maceration. DPPH⋅, ABTS⋅+ , FRAP, and CUPRAC methods determined the antioxidant capacities of all extracts. Moreover, the in vitro effects of extracts on acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), carbonic anhydrase (CA)-I, CA-II and α-Glycosidase were investigated. At a 10 µg/ml concentration, the extract with the highest Fe3+ reduction capacity was ethanol (AE), and the extract with the highest Cu2+ reduction capacity was acetone (AA). AE for AChE (IC50 =21.19 µg/ml) and α-Glycosidase (IC50 : 70.00 µg/ml), methanol (AM) for BChE (IC50 =17.33 µg/ml), CA-I and II (IC50 =79.65 and 36.09 µg/ml, respectively) showed the most potent inhibition effect. The content analysis of acetone extract was performed with LC/MS-MS, the first three phytochemicals found most were p-Coumaric acid, rutin, and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (284.29±3.97, 135.39±8.19, and 102.06±5.51 µg analyte/g extract, respectively).

Nigella sativa reduces tissue damage in rat ovaries subjected to torsion and detorsion: oxidative stress, proinflammatory response and histopathological evaluation.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate biochemically and histopathologically the effects of Nigella sativa (NS) in experimental ischemia and ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rat ovaries. METHODS: Thirty-six female rats were divided into 6 groups: group I = sham operation; group II = 500 mg/kg NS + sham operation; group III = bilateral ovarian ischemia; group IV = 500 mg/kg NS + ischemia; group V = 3-hour period of ischemia + 3-hour reperfusion, and group VI: 3-hour period of ischemia + 500 mg/kg NS 2.5 h after the induction of ischemia + 3-hour reperfusion. At the end of ischemia, the bilateral vascular clips were removed, and 3-hour reperfusion was continued. IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α cytokine levels in serum, and superoxide dismutase (SOD), myeloperoxidase (MPO), glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were determined. RESULTS: I/R increased the MDA level and MPO activity while significantly decreasing the SOD activity and GSH level when compared to the sham. The 500-mg/kg dose of NS before I/R reversed the trend in MDA levels, MPO activity, SOD activity, and GSH levels. Ischemia and I/R increased the serum levels of IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α, while the administration of NS decreased the serum levels of these cytokines. CONCLUSIONS: The administration of NS is effective in reversing tissue damage induced by ischemia and/or I/R in ovaries.

Antimutagenic effects of lichen Pseudovernia furfuracea (L.) Zoph. extracts against the mutagenicity of aflatoxin B1 in vitro.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of methanol, acetone, n-hexane and ether extracts obtained from Pseudovernia furfuracea on genotoxicity and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in cultured human blood cells intoxicated with aflatoxin B(1) (AFB(1)). Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and micronucleus (MN) tests were used for genotoxic influences estimation. In both the test systems, it was observed that P. furfuracea extracts suppressed the mutagenic effects of AFB(1) due to the type of extracts added to the cultures. Furthermore, a significant reduction in plasma TAC was observed after AFB(1) treatment. Interestingly, the methanol and acetone extracts of the lichen recovered AFB(1)-induced TAC inhibition. The order of extracts of anti-genotoxicity efficacy against AFB(1) was methanol, acetone, ether and n-hexane, respectively. In conclusion, P. furfuracea has been shown to modulate the adverse effects of AFB(1) in human blood cells for the first time.

Comparison of antioxidant activity and phenolic content of three lichen species.

The antioxidant activities (AA), reducing powers (RP) and total phenolic contents (TPC) of methanol and water extracts of three lichen species, Usnea longissima Ach., Usnea florida (L.) Weber ex Wigg. and Lobaria pulmonaria (L.) Hoffm. were determined in vitro. Of the extracts tested, the methanol extracts of Lobaria pulmonaria and Usnea longissima showed potent antioxidant activities. The methanol extract of L. pulmonaria also had the highest total phenolic contents (87.9 mg/g lyophylisate). For the methanol extract of this species, there was also a strong correlation between antioxidant activity and total phenolic contents. However, a similar correlation was not observed for U. longissima. Although the methanol extract of U. longissima had a lower phenolic content (38.6 mg/g lyophylisate), it exhibited potent antioxidant activity. On the other hand, there was a strong correlation between the reducing powers and the total phenolic contents of the extracts. The highest reducing power was determined for the methanol extract of L. pulmonaria.