Department of Food Nutrition, Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology, Tainan 71703, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Food Science, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60004, Taiwan.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:304290. doi: 10.1155/2013/304290. Epub 2013 Dec 10.
The Osmanthus fragrans flower, a popular herb in Eastern countries, contains several antioxidant compounds. Ben Cao Gang Mu, traditional Chinese medical literature, describes the usefulness of these flowers for phlegm and stasis reduction, arrest of dysentery with blood in the bowel, and stomachache and diarrhea treatment. However, modern evidence regarding the therapeutic efficacy of these flowers is limited. This study was aimed at assessing the antioxidative effects of the ethanol extract of O. fragrans flowers (OFE) in vivo and evaluating its antioxidant maintenance and therapeutic effect on an allergic airway inflammation in mice. After OFE's oral administration to mice, the values obtained in the oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay as well as the glutathione concentration in the lungs and spleens of mice increased while thiobarbituric acid reactive substances decreased significantly, indicating OFE's significant in vivo antioxidant activity. OFE was also therapeutically efficacious in a mouse model of ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation. Orally administered OFE suppressed ovalbumin-specific IgE production and inflammatory cell infiltration in the lung. Moreover, the antioxidative state of the mice improved. Thus, our findings confirm the ability of the O. fragrans flowers to reduce phlegm and suggest that OFE may be useful as an antiallergic agent.
桂花，一种在东方国家广泛应用的草药，含有多种抗氧化化合物。《本草纲目》中记载了其化痰、止血痢、治腹痛、腹泻的功效。然而，目前关于其治疗功效的现代证据有限。本研究旨在评估桂花乙醇提取物（OFE）的体内抗氧化作用，并评价其对过敏性气道炎症的抗氧化维持和治疗作用。OFE 经口给予小鼠后，其在氧自由基吸收能力测定中的值以及肺和脾组织中的谷胱甘肽浓度显著增加，而丙二醛含量显著降低，表明 OFE 具有显著的体内抗氧化活性。OFE 对卵清蛋白诱导的过敏性气道炎症的小鼠模型也具有治疗作用。口服给予 OFE 可抑制卵清蛋白特异性 IgE 产生和肺内炎症细胞浸润，同时改善了小鼠的抗氧化状态。因此，我们的研究结果证实了桂花具有化痰的作用，并表明 OFE 可能作为一种抗过敏药物具有一定的应用价值。
