Evaluation of Hepatoprotective Activity and Oxidative Stress Reduction of Rosmarinus officinalis L. Shoots Tincture in Rats with Experimentally Induced Hepatotoxicity

Abstract

Rosmarinus officinalis L. is a widely known species for its medicinal uses, that is also used as raw material for the food and cosmetic industry. The aim of the present study was to offer a novel perspective on the medicinal product originating from this species and to test its hepatoprotective activity. The tested sample consisted in a tincture obtained from the fresh young shoots. Compounds that are evaluated for this activity are polyphenols and terpenoids, that are identified and quantified by HPLC–UV–MS and GC–MS. Antioxidant activity was assessed in vitro, using the DPPH, FRAP and SO assays. Hepatoprotective activity was tested in rats with experimentally-induced hepatotoxicity. In the chemical composition of the tincture, phenolic diterpenes (carnosic acid, carnosol, rosmanol, rosmadial) and rosmarinic acid were found to be the majority compounds, alongside with 1,8-cineole, camphene, linalool, borneol and terpineol among monoterpenes. In vitro, the tested tincture proved significant antioxidant capacity. Results of the in vivo experiment showed that hepatoprotective activity is based on an antioxidant mechanism. In this way, the present study offers a novel perspective on the medicinal uses of the species, proving significant amounts of polyphenols and terpenes in the composition of the fresh young shoots tincture, that has proved hepatoprotective activity through an antioxidant mechanism.

Essential oil composition of Salvia officinalis and Rosmarinus officinalis

“…Of the plant diversity of this group, Lamiaceae (also known as Mint family) possess 236 genera with anapproximately identified of 7000 species, constituting the largest plant groups of MAPs (Gharib, 2006;Ramasubramania, 2012). Regarding the well-known and reputed species of MAPs, sage (S. officinalis) and rosemary (R. officinalis) are commonly studied for their chemical composition due to their significant uses in various fields (for sage : Okaiyeto et al, 2021;Ovidi et al, 2021;Jedidi et al, 2021; for rosemary: Lešnik et al, 2021;Nguyen et al, 2021;Ielciu et al, 2021). Essentialoil of sage is mainly characterized with 1,8-cineole, camphor, α-thujone, β-thujone, borneol, viridiflorol, an dmanool (Raal et al, 2007;Taarit et al, 2010), whilst α-pinene, 1,8-cineol, (+)-camphor, and piperitone are of the reported compounds for rosemary (Gachkar et al, 2007;Hussain et al, 2010).…”

Chemical Profile, Cytotoxic Activity and Oxidative Stress Reduction of Different Syringa vulgaris L. Extracts

“…The in vitro antioxidant capacity of S. vulgaris extracts was evaluated by three different methods: 2,2-diphenyl-picrylhydrazil (DPPH●) scavenging assay, ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) ( Table 9 ). The three used methods were chosen in order to bring arguments that prove the antioxidant capacity of tested samples by three different mechanisms [ 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”

“…Results of the TPA determination were expressed as mg caffeic acid equivalents (CAE)/g dried vegetal material and calculated using a caffeic acid calibration curve graph (R 2 = 0.9956). All these experiments were performed in triplicate [ 31 , 33 , 44 ].…”

“…A matching score higher than 80% was considered acceptable for identification of the compounds. Quantitative analysis was performed by area normalization method and the results were express as area percentage (%) [ 31 , 45 ].…”

Editorial to the Special Issue “Food Bioactives: Chemical Challenges and Bio-Opportunities”

“…A novel perspective in the exploitation of MAPs was represented by the paper of Ielciu and co-workers, in which fresh young shoots of Rosmarinus officinalis L. were macerated in 90% ethanol to obtain a tincture, which was tested against liver tissue damages [ 3 ]. The phytochemical analysis led to the identification and quantification of polyphenols and terpenes by HPLC–UV–MS and GC–MS, respectively.…”