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Aims: To characterize the antioxidant properties of twelve selected medicinal plants commonly used in Jordan in traditional medicine. Methodology: The following in vitro antioxidant assays were used: total antioxidant capacity, DPPH free radical scavenging, ferric reducing, ferrous chelating, total phenols and flavonoids. Results: Considering the overall antioxidant activities (µg AA equivalent /mg extract), the studied plants were arranged in the following decreasing order of their extract strength: Pistacia palaestina Boiss. (232) > Arbutus andrachne L. (197) > Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra (186) > Zingiber officinale Roscoe (185) > Mentha spicata L. (184) > Rosmarinus officinalis L. (183) > Salvia triloba L.f. (154) > Verbena triphylla L'H'er. (117) > Origanum syriacum L. (109) > Teucrium polium L. (96) > Nigella sativa L. (80) > Ceratonia siliqua L. (69). When the antioxidant capacity of the dry weights (g AA equivalent /100g dry weight) of tested plants was calculated, the plants were arranged from the strongest to the weakest as follows: Pistacia palaestina Boiss. (7.1%) > Arbutus andrachne L. (6.1%) > Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra (4.3%) > Salvia triloba L.f. (2.4%) > Rosmarinus officinalis L. (2.2%) > Ceratonia siliqua L. (1.9%) > Zingiber officinale Roscoe (1.4%) > Nigella sativa L.

The objective of this study was to investigate the role of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and placental growth factor-2 (PlGF-2) in fetal malformations associated with maternal diabetes. Diabetes was induced in female rats. Diabetic and control female rats were made pregnant. On Day 15 of gestation, rats were sacrificed and embryos and their placentas and membranes were dissected out of the uterine horns. Following morphological examination, embryos and their placentas and membranes were homogenized and used for assayed of VEGF-A and PlGF-2 levels. Embryos of diabetic mothers, exhibited significantly (P < 0.05) shorter crown-to-rump lengths, smaller weights, and heavier placental weights. Experimentally induced maternal diabetes was accompanied by decreased VEGF-A in embryos and associated structures. The levels of PlGF-2 in non-malformed embryos of diabetic gestation and their placentas were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the average of controls. These results might indicate defective vascularization with a consequent morphological or anatomical anomalies or more subtle biochemical or metabolic changes. In diabetic mothers, a statistically significant (P < 0.05) decrease was noted in the level of VEGF-A in plasma of diabetic rats with a small non-significant decrease in PlGF-2. Like many other diabetic complications, diabetes-induced embryopathies might have vascular origin and correcting the disturbances in these angiogenic factors might help decrease the incidence of malformation in diabetic gestation.

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