BACKGROUND Natural extracts with beneficial biological activities are nowadays of high interest, in various treatment or prophylaxis. Hypericum capitatum has been known for its curative effects for centuries and its extracts have become of interest due to their distinct activity among other Hypericaceae members. In this study, further light is aimed to be shed on the secondary-metabolites composition of H. capitatum extracts, using chromatographic techniques and Electron paramagnetic resonance profiles in alkaline medium. Considering that no previous works explored the anti-inflammatory activity of H. capitatum, here, an in vivo study is also designed in order to evaluate this property by assessing the impact of one of H. capitatum extracts in ameliorating turpentine oil-induced inflammation on rats and to quantify their blood antioxidants level. METHODS Chromatographic techniques and Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy were used in order to describe the chemical profile in different parts of the plant. The in vivo study on turpentine-oil induced inflammation in rats included three doses of H. capitatum extract expressed in rutin concentration. Oxidative stress was measured using total oxidative status, total antioxidant capacity, oxidative stress index, 3-nitrotyrosine, nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, catalase and the inflammatory response was evaluated by performing a complete blood cells count and C reactive protein. RESULTS The extract was remarkably rich in rutin; however, other polyphenolic-like minor components appeared important in explaining the observed biological properties. The tested extract prevents the increase of inflammation-induced white blood cell count, number of neutrophils, and serum nitric oxide, and did so in a dose-dependent manner, similarly to the positive control-diclofenac. In addition, the same extract appeared to be a good alternative to diclofenac to restore total oxidative status, thiobarbituric active reactive species, total proteins and C reactive proteins. Moreover, antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase and total serum thiol concentration were significantly increased by the tested extract. CONCLUSIONS Due to its powerful reservoir rich in rutin, H. capitatum extract depicted its in vivo antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects indicating it to be a good alternative to conventional drugs for oxidative stress protection.

中文翻译：

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富含芦丁的头状金丝桃提取物对松节油引起的大鼠炎症具有抗炎作用。


背景技术具有有益生物活性的天然提取物如今在各种治疗或预​​防中引起高度关注。几个世纪以来，头状金丝桃以其疗效而闻名，其提取物因其在其他金丝桃科成员中的独特活性而引起人们的兴趣。在本研究中，旨在利用色谱技术和碱性介质中的电子顺磁共振谱进一步阐明头状花中提取物的次生代谢物组成。考虑到之前没有研究头花的抗炎活性，这里还设计了一项体内研究，通过评估头花的一种提取物在改善松节油引起的炎症方面的影响来评估这种特性。大鼠并量化其血液抗氧化剂水平。方法 使用色谱技术和电子顺磁共振波谱来描述植物不同部分的化学特征。松节油诱导大鼠炎症的体内研究包括三个剂量的头状花序提取物（以芦丁浓度表示）。使用总氧化状态、总抗氧化能力、氧化应激指数、3-硝基酪氨酸、一氧化氮、丙二醛、超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化氢酶来测量氧化应激，并通过进行全血细胞计数和C反应蛋白来评估炎症反应。结果提取物中芦丁含量非常丰富；然而，其他类似多酚的次要成分对于解释观察到的生物特性似乎很重要。 与阳性对照双氯芬酸类似，测试的提取物可防止炎症引起的白细胞计数、中性粒细胞数量和血清一氧化氮的增加，并且以剂量依赖性方式发挥作用。此外，相同的提取物似乎是双氯芬酸的良好替代品，可恢复总氧化状态、硫代巴比妥活性反应物质、总蛋白和 C 反应蛋白。此外，受试提取物显着增加了抗氧化酶，如过氧化氢酶、超氧化物歧化酶和血清总硫醇浓度。结论 由于其富含芦丁的强大储库，头花提取物显示出其体内抗氧化和抗炎作用，表明它是传统氧化应激保护药物的良好替代品。