Search

The present study reports the antioxidant activity of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), family Elaegnaceae, on chromium induced oxidative stress in male albino rats. Oxidative stress was induced in the rats by force-feeding of potassium dichromate equivalent to a dose of 30mg/kg body weight (BW) of chromium(VI) for 30 days. Administration of chromium decreased the body weight and increased organ to body weight ratio significantly. Chromium treatment significantly decreased reduced glutathione (GSH), and increased malondialdehyde (MDA) and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels; further it also enhanced glutamate oxaloacetate transferase (GOT) and glutamate pyruvate transferase (GPT) levels in the serum. Different doses of the alcoholic leaf extract of Seabuckthorn were evaluated for the protection against the chromium induced oxidative stress. The results show that the leaf extract at a concentration of 100 and 250mg/kg BW protected the animals from the chromium induced oxidative injury significantly.

The fruits extracts of Emblica officinalis (Amla) has been reported to have strong anti-oxidant properties. There is a paucity of studies on the immunomodulatory properties of fruit extracts of Amla in immuno-compromised states, with the emphasis on lymphocytes. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the anti-oxidant and immunomodulatory properties of Amla using chromium (VI) as an immunosuppressive agent. Chromium (Cr) treatment results in enhanced cytotoxicity, free radical production, lipid peroxidation and decreased glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity and diminished glutathione (GSH) levels. There was a significant inhibition of both lipopolysaccharide and concanavalin-A-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation. Chromium also inhibited Con A stimulated interleukin-2 and gamma-interferon production significantly. Further, there was enhanced apoptosis and DNA fragmentation in the presence of Cr. Amla significantly inhibited Cr-induced free radical production and restored the anti-oxidant status back to control level. Amla also inhibited apoptosis and DNA fragmentation induced by Cr. Interestingly, Amla relieved the immunosuppressive effects of Cr on lymphocyte proliferation and even restored the IL-2 and gamma-IFN production considerably.

This study was designed to determine the anti-oxidant and immunomodulatory properties of seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) using lymphocytes as a model system. Chromium(VI) as potassium dichromate was used to induce oxidative damage. The production of free radicals by chromium and the ability of alcoholic leaf and fruit extracts of seabuckthorn to inhibit the oxidative damage induced by chromium was investigated. Addition of chromium (10 microg/ml) to the cells resulted in enhanced cytotoxicity, apoptosis, free radical production and decreased glutathione (reduced) levels. Chromium also caused a significant inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation induced by both lipopolysaccharide and concanavalin A. Alcoholic extracts of leaves and fruits of seabuckthorn at a concentration of 500 microg/ml were found to inhibit chromium-induced free radical production, apoptosis, DNA fragmentation and restored the anti-oxidant status to that of control cells. In addition, these extracts also were able to arrest the chromium-induced inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation. These observations suggest that the alcoholic extracts of leaves and fruits of seabuckthorn have marked cytoprotective properties, which could be attributed to the anti-oxidant activity.

The effect of Kombucha tea (KT) on oxidative stress induced changes in rats subjected to chromate treatment are reported. KT feeding alone did not show any significant change in malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels, but did enhance humoral response and delayed type of hypersensitivity (DTH) response appreciably over control animals. Chromate treatment significantly enhanced plasma and tissue MDA levels, decreased DTH response considerably, enhanced glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities; however, no change in GSH, superoxide dismutase and antibody titres was noticed. KT feeding completely reversed the chromate-induced changes. These results show that Kombucha tea has potent anti-oxidant and immunopotentiating activities.