S. Asgary; S.A. Emami; M.R. Shams Ardekani; Gh. Naderi; S. Aslani; T. Kasher; A. Airin
Volume 23, Issue 1 , May 2007, , Pages 59-72
Abstract
Free radicals especially reactive oxygen species damage biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, enzymes and membrane lipids. Nowadays, it is believed that antioxidant and oxidant systems play an important role in the pathogenesis of many diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancers, aging, etc. In the ...
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Free radicals especially reactive oxygen species damage biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, enzymes and membrane lipids. Nowadays, it is believed that antioxidant and oxidant systems play an important role in the pathogenesis of many diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancers, aging, etc. In the present study, antioxidant effects of essential oils from the fruits and twigs ofJuniperus excelsa subsp. Excelsa on several oxidative systems (red blood cells haemolysis , LDL oxidation, insulin and haemoglobin glycosylation and linoleic acid peroxidation) were studied. Plant specimens were identified after collection and essential oils from the fruits and twigs were separately extracted by steam distillation method. Three different concentration of each extracts from the fruits and twigs of plant were used. Experiments were carried out in the presence and in the absence of each concentration by Cu and spectroscopic method for LDL oxidation. 2, 2’-Azobis- (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) was used to hemolysis of red blood cells and the amount of haemolysis was measured by spectroscopic method in 540 nm. Total conjugated dienes (CDs) formation from linoleic acid was determined at the presence of FeSO in 234nm. The results of this study show that insulin and haemoglobin glycosylation were effectively inhibited by the examined essential oil, also LDL oxidation was inhibited in the presence of different concentration of these oils. Inhibitory effect of twigs on LDL oxidation was greater than vitamin C. No anti-oxidation activity on LDL oxidation was observed when the experiments run with examined-concentrations of fruit. Linoleic acid oxidation in the presence of examined-oils was efficiently inhibited and a direct correlation was observed between the level of inhibition and incubation time. The obtained essential oils inhibited red blood cells haemolysis in low concentration and accelerate red blood cells haemolysis by peroxidant properties in high concentration. These results demonstratethat the essential oils prepared from the fruit and twigs of the Juniperus excelsa subsp. excelsa possess antioxidantactivity in low concentration in several oxidative systems even them caused red blood cells haemolysis in vitro. Hence, more studies are called to examine the effect of this plant for treatment of some disease including atherosclerosis, diabetes, cancer, etc.
S. Asgary; H. Madani; P. Mahzoni; N. Jafari; Gh. Naderi
Volume 22, Issue 4 , February 2007, , Pages 303-314
Abstract
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is invariably the most frequent cause of death in most of the west countries. Atherosclerosis which is the most common risk factor for CHD caused by a gradual deposition of fats and lipids in muscular arteries. Many species of Artemisia from Compositeae family have hypolipidemic ...
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Coronary heart disease (CHD) is invariably the most frequent cause of death in most of the west countries. Atherosclerosis which is the most common risk factor for CHD caused by a gradual deposition of fats and lipids in muscular arteries. Many species of Artemisia from Compositeae family have hypolipidemic and antioxidative properties. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Artemisia sieberi extract on blood lipids and development of atherosclerosis in rabbits fed by a high cholesterol diet. For this objective 15 male rabbits were randomly divided in three groups (normal diet, hypercholesterolemic diet (HCD) and HCD + 100 mg/kg body weight Artemisia sieberi extract). Total cholesterol (TC), LDL cholesterol, triglycerides (TG) and HDL cholesterol were measured before starting and after 1st and 2nd months of experimental period. After two months, rabbits were killed following chloroform over dose and their aortas were removed for assessment of atherosclerotic plaques. The results indicate that Artemisia sieberi significantly reduces the levels of TC, LDL, TG and TC/HDL and significantly increase the level of HDL. The atherosclerotic plaque formation was significantly reduced in Artemisia sieberi group as compared to the control hypercholesterolemic group.
