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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The members of the genus Ranunculus have counter-irritating properties and thus, they are traditionally used for treating anti-inflammatory disorders and other skin conditions. Ranunculus macrophyllus Desf. is a wild medicinal plant growing in Algeria and traditionally used to treat some cutaneous skin disorders., Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize the composition of the ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts from Ranunculus macrophyllus Desf. as well as to elucidate and to compare their effect against acute skin inflammation. Moreover, both the antioxidant activity and the acute toxicity of the plant extracts were also studied., Materials and Methods: Spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods were employed to identify and quantify phenolic compounds and triterpenoids from R. macrophyllus Desf. fractions. The antioxidant activity was estimated using the phosphomolebdenum, DPPH, reducing power and β-carotene bleaching assays. The ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts were screened for their anti-inflammatory activities using ex-vivo membrane stabilizing assays and in-vivo acute skin inflammation model., Results: Ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest amounts of total phenolic compounds (413 ± 4 μg GAE/mg extract) and triterpenoids (70.4 ± 1.8 μg UAE/mg extract). Rutin, hesperidin, myricetin and kaempferol were the major compounds identified in the different fractions. Ethyl acetate fraction exhibited strong DPPH • radical scavenging ability (IC 50 1.6 ± 0.2 μg/mL), high total antioxidant capacity (447 ± 7 μg AAE/mg extract) and reducing power (514 ± 8 μg AAE/mg extract). Ethyl acetate fraction inhibited (73.4 ± 0.3) % of linoleic acid peroxidation. Ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions did not have any visible toxicity at 2000 mg/kg and presented excellent membrane stabilizing ability. The inhibition of xylene induced ear inflammation was (38 ± 4) % and (46 ± 1) % for RM-B and RM-EA, respectively., Conclusions: The high content of both phenolic compounds and triterpenoids combined with the remarkable anti-inflammatory effect and antioxidant activity of ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts from R. macrophyllus Desf. support the wide spread use of this traditional plant on some skin disorders (inflammatory skin disorders)., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Paronychia argentea Lam. (Arabic tea), a species spontaneously growing in the Mediterranean area, has been used in folk medicine for renal diseases., Aim of the Study: To assess the antioxidant and protective potentials of different extracts from P. argentea in the renal endothelial NRK-52E cell line by several in vitro models, including a H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress model., Material and Methods: Aerial parts of P. argentea were collected in Algeria and ethanolic, chloroform and aqueous-chloroform extracts were obtained from dried plant. The antioxidant capacity was first evaluated by the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) and the free radical scavenging activity (DPPH) methods. Cellular viability was assessed by MTT method assay after 24 h pretreatment with each extract concentration in order to measure protection from H 2 O 2 in NRK-52E cells. Furthermore, the intracellular ROS formation (DCFH-DA method), was determined., Results: P. argentea showed in vitro antioxidant activity as evidenced by the ORAC and DPPH assays. No cell toxicity was observed for concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 100 μg/mL of each extract. These extracts also exerted a protective effect on renal endothelial cells simultaneously treated with 1 mM H 2 O 2 . Chemical composition for the aqueous-chloroform extract was assessed by HPLC, as it showed the strongest antioxidant ability, revealing three quercetin derivatives as the main phenolic compounds., Conclusion: P. argentea is endorsed with antioxidant activity and protects renal endothelial cells against oxidative damage which indicate this plant constitutes a potential treatment for renal diseases., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Inula viscosa (I. viscosa) is a common Mediterranean plant, well known for its content on bioactive molecules. The chemical composition of an ethanolic extract from I. viscosa leaves, growing in Algeria, was analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS) operating in negative and positive mode. The methodology used revealed the presence of 51 compounds from which 47 were putatively identified, including 11 phenolic acids, 23flavonoids, one lignan and 12 terpenoids. Twenty-six of these compounds are described for the first time in I. viscosa. Antioxidant activity was measured using three different and complementary chemical assays: DPPH radical scavenging activity, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity (HOSC). Results demonstrate that ethanolic leaf extract exhibit a high scavenging ability against DPPH (157.72 ± 6.45 μM TE/g DW), peroxyl (4471.42 ± 113.16 μM TE/g DW) and hydroxyl (630.10 ± 17.81 μM TE/g DW) radicals, indicating that I. viscosa can be a promising source of bioactive compounds., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Seeds and aerial parts of Peganum harmala L. are widely used in Algeria as anti-inflammatory remedies. Evaluation of Peganum harmala total alkaloids extracts and pure β-carboline compounds as an anti-inflammatory treatment by the inhibition of an enzyme key of inflammatory, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and HPLC quantification of the alkaloids from the different parts of plant., Materials and Methods: MPO inhibition was tested using taurine chloramine test. The inhibition of LDL oxidation induced by MPO was carried out. The molecular docking analysis of Peganum harmala alkaloids on MPO was performed using the Glide XP docking protocol and scoring function and the redox potential of alkaloids was determined using an Epsilon potentiostat. The concentration of harmala alkaloids was determined using HPLC analysis., Results: The HPLC profiling of the active total alkaloids indicates that β-carboline e.g. harmine, harmaline, harmane, harmol and harmalol are major components. As β-carbolines resemble tryptamine, of which derivatives are efficient inhibitors of MPO, the harmala alkaloids were tested for their activity on this enzyme. Total alkaloids of the seeds and of the aerial parts strongly inhibited MPO at 20µg/mL (97±5% and 43±4%, respectively) whereas, at the same concentration, those of the roots showed very low inhibition (15±6%). Harmine, harmaline and harmane demonstrated a significant inhibition of MPO at IC50 of 0.26, 0.08 and 0.72µM respectively. These alkaloids exerted a similar inhibition effects on MPO-induced LDL oxidation. Molecular docking analysis of Peganum harmala alkaloids on MPO showed that all active Peganum harmala alkaloids have a high affinity on the active site of MPO (predicted free energies of binding up to -3.1kcal/mol). Measurement of redox potentials versus the normal hydrogen electrode clearly differentiated (i) the high MPO inhibitory activity of harmine, harmaline and harmane (+1014, 1014 and 1003mV, respectively); and (ii) the low activity of harmalol and harmol (+629/778 and 532/644mV, respectively). A reverse phase HPLC method has been developed to determine simultaneously five alkaloids of Peganum harmala. Seeds contained all five β-carboline derivatives with the main active alkaloids, harmaline and harmine, being up to 3.8% and 2.9%, respectively. Up to 3.2% of harmine was determined in the roots. The four β-carboline derivatives, harmine, harmaline, harmane and harmalol were identified in the aerial parts. The highest inhibitory effect observed in seeds and the moderate effect of aerial parts could be explained by their harmine and harmaline content. In contrast, the very weak inhibition of the root extract, despite the presence of harmine, may tentatively be explained by the high concentration of harmol which can reduce Compound II of MPO to the native form., Conclusion: The inhibition of MPO by Peganum harmala β-carboline alkaloids, herein reported for the first time, may explain the anti-inflammatory effect traditionally attributed to its herbal medicine., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Glaucium flavum (G. flavum) is a plant from the Papaveraceae family native to Algeria where it is used in local traditional medicine to treat warts. G. flavum root crude alkaloid extract inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation and induced G2/M phase cycle arrest and apoptosis without affecting normal cells, which is a highly awaited feature of potential anti-cancer agents. G. flavum significantly reduced growth and vascularization of human glioma tumors on chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) in vivo. The chromatographic profile of the dichloromethane extract of G. flavum root showed the presence of different constituents including the isoquinoline alkaloid protopine, as the major compound. We report for the first time that G. flavum extract may represent a new promising agent for cancer chemotherapy., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)