Effects of the methanol extract of <i>Ocimum gratissimum</i> on cumen hydroperoxide–induced oxidative stress on rat liver tissue

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the in vitro effects of the methanol extract of O.gratissimum (MEOG) on DPPH and liver homogenate. All the assays wi t h DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl) including the radical scavenging assay, indicated that MEOG has a notice able effect on scavenging the free radicals. The phenolic content of the sample was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and it was found to be 55.28±5.24 mg gallic acid equivalents (GA)/g dry weight. There was a statistically significant correlation between the amount of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity (r² = 0.836, P < 0.05). A group was treated with the extract only to check whether this plant has any toxic effect of its own or produced any side effect when added to the liver homogenate. The results established the fact that this extract is safe to be used without any toxic or side effects. In the liver homogenate, the levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were  significantly reduced (P < 0.05) in cumen hydroperoxide (CHP)-treated control group (CC), but the extract-treated groups (EX) did not show any significant difference with the normal control (NC), which clearly indicated that the extract could prevent the toxic effects of CHP. These results suggest that MEOG could protect the liver tissue from lipid peroxidation induced by CHP by its antioxidative effect, and hence prevent the deleterious effects of CHP- induced hepatotoxicity. © 2013 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Ocimum gratissimum, phytochemicals, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation