1. A series of flavonoids isolated from Indian medicinal plants: kaempferol-3-O-galactoside, hispidulin, nepetin, scutellarein, scutellarein-7-O-glucuronide, hibifolin and morelloflavone were studied for their activity as inhibitors of microsomal lipid peroxidation and scavengers of oxygen free radicals in vitro as well as in a model of xenobiotic toxicity in mouse. 2. All compounds inhibited lipid peroxidation in vitro. The most potent compounds were nepetin (non-enzymic lipid peroxidation) and morelloflavone (enzymic lipid peroxidation) with IC50's in the micromolar range. Some of the compounds behaved as scavengers of hydroxyl radical in the deoxyribose degradation assay, with a calculated rate constant for kaempferol-3-O-galactoside of 1.55 x 10(10) M-1 s-1. 3. Scutellarein and nepetin were found to be inhibitors of xanthine oxidase activity, whereas morelloflavone acted as a scavenger of superoxide generated by hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase. 4. Treatment of mice with scutellarein, hispidulin, nepetin and kaempferol-3-O-galactoside after bromobenzene intoxication decreased serum glumate-pyruvate transaminase activity, although only the last flavonoid was able to significantly reduce hepatic lipid peroxidation products and to increase the reduced glutathione level. In contrast, morelloflavone increased bromobenzene toxicity.
The effects of bakuchiol, a meroterpenoid isolated from the leaves of Psoralea glandulosa L., on phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity from different sources, human neutrophil responses, zymosan air pouch and topical inflammation in mice, were investigated. This natural product was a weak inhibitor of secretory and intracellular PLA2 but dose-dependently reduced the formation of LTB4 and TXB2 by human neutrophils and platelet microsomes, respectively. In addition, bakuchiol inhibited degranulation in human neutrophils, whereas superoxide generation was not affected. In mice, bakuchiol decreased cell migration, myeloperoxidase activity and eicosanoid levels in the air pouch inflammation induced by zymosan. After topical administration, this compound was effective as an inhibitor of oedema and myeloperoxidase activity in the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-induced ear oedema and significantly reduced the PGE2 content and ear oedema in the arachidonic acid-induced response. Bakuchiol is a natural anti-inflammatory agent able to control leukocytic functions such as eicosanoid production, migration and degranulation in the inflammatory site.
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