Cretu Elena, Miron S D, Miron Anca
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Grigore T. Popa" - Iasi.
Rev Med Chir Soc Med Nat Iasi. 2013 Apr-Jun;117(2):551-7.
In the Eastern Mediterranean region the wood of Pinus brutia Ten. is used as building material, the bark being the main waste of the wood production processes. A study was designed to explore possible medicinal applications for the bark waste. This paper reports on the superoxide dismutase-like and NO scavenging effects of bark extracts.
Bark extracts (a raw hydromethanolic extract and its fractions) were initially screened regarding their ability to scavenge DPPH radical. The superoxide dismutase-like and NO scavenging effects were further evaluated. Catechin and quercetin were the positive controls in all antioxidant assays.
According to the EC50 values, all extracts (11.8 +/- 0.1 - 21.10 +/- 0.05 microg/ml) efficiently scavenged DPPH radical in comparison to quercetin (3.13 +/- 0.05 microg/ml) and catechin (6.36 +/- 0.05 microg/ml). The raw extract, diethyl ether and ethyl acetate fractions (449.46 +/- 1.75, 115.43 +/- 0.25 and 278.3 +/- 2.3 microg/ml, respectively) exhibited higher superoxide dismutase-like effects in comparison to catechin (> 645.1 microg/ml). In NO scavenging assay, the raw extract, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions (160.63 +/- 0.85, 162.96 +/- 0.52 and 160.23 +/- 2.35 microg/ml, respectively) showed a scavenging ability similar to that of quercetin (156.76 +/- 5.05 microg/ml) and higher than the one developed by catechin (242.66 +/- 7.65 microg/ml).
As superoxide anion and NO are important mediators in inflammation, our results support a possible use of Pinus brutia bark waste to develop nutraceuticals with efficiency in disorders involving oxidative and inflammatory stress.
