Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery (Wuhan University), Ministry of Education, and Institute of TCM & Natural Products, Wuhan University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan 430071, PR China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2012 May 7;141(1):104-10. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2012.02.006. Epub 2012 Feb 15.
Meconopsis quintuplinervia, a medicinal herb endemic to the Tibetan region, is used to treat hepatitis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the antioxidant potential of the ethanolic extract of this herb using different assays.
The antioxidant capacity of Meconopsis quintuplinervia was investigated using various established in vitro systems. An in vivo study of carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))-induced antioxidant activity in mice was also conducted by examining the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione (GSH).
The extract showed strong in vitro antioxidant ability. In the in vivo study, CCl(4)-induced oxidative stress caused significant decreases in the SOD, CAT, and GSH levels and a significant increase in the MDA level, most of which were significantly reversed (except for SOD in the liver.) by treatment with the extract and standard Vitamin E.
This study clearly indicates that the ethanolic extract of Meconopsis quintuplinervia is a valuable source of natural antioxidants. These findings provide scientific support for the traditional use of this herb as a Tibetan medicine for liver diseases.
麦瓶草是一种仅生长于西藏地区的药用草本植物，用于治疗肝炎。本研究旨在通过不同的方法评估该草药的乙醇提取物的抗氧化潜力。
采用多种已建立的体外系统来研究麦瓶草的抗氧化能力。通过检测丙二醛（MDA）水平和抗氧化酶（超氧化物歧化酶[SOD]、过氧化氢酶[CAT]和谷胱甘肽[GSH]）的活性，还对四氯化碳（CCl(4)）诱导的小鼠抗氧化活性进行了体内研究。
提取物表现出很强的体外抗氧化能力。在体内研究中，CCl(4)诱导的氧化应激导致 SOD、CAT 和 GSH 水平显著降低，MDA 水平显著升高，其中大部分都被提取物和标准维生素 E 的治疗显著逆转（肝脏中的 SOD 除外）。
本研究清楚地表明，麦瓶草的乙醇提取物是天然抗氧化剂的有价值来源。这些发现为该草药作为藏药治疗肝病的传统用途提供了科学依据。
