Hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of flowers of Nerium oleander against CCl_4-induced liver injury in rats

Objective:To investigate the antioxidant and hepatoproteetive activity of methanolic flower extract of Nerium oleander against CCl4—induced hepatotoxicity in rats.Methods:In vitro antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of dowers of Nerium oleander（MENO-F） was evaluated by various assays,including reducing power,lipid peroxidation.DPPH.ARTS,superoxide anion,hydroxyl radicals and metal chelation.The hepatoproteetive and in vivo antioxidant activity of MENO-F were evaluated against CCl4-induced hepatic damage in rats.The MENO-F at dose of 100.200 and 400 mg/kg were administered orally once daily for seven days.Serum enzymatic levels of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase（AST）,serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase（ALT）,serum alkaline phosphatase（ALP） and total bilirubin were estimated along with estimation of superoxide dismutase（SOD） and malondialdehvde（MDA） levels in liver tissues.Further histopathological examination of the liver sections was carried out to support the induction of hepalotoxicity and hepatoproteetive efficacy.Results:The extract showed potent activities on reducing power,lipid peroxide.DPPH.ABTS.superoxide anion,hydroxyl radical and metal chelation.The substantially elevated serum enzymatic levels of AST,ALT.ALP and total bilirubin were found to he restored towards normalization significantly by the MENO-F in a dose dependent manner with maximum hepatoprotection at 400 mg/kg dose level.The histopathological observations supported the biochemical evidences of hepatoprotection.Elevated level of SOD and decreased level of MDA further strengthen the hepatoproteetive observations. The results of the present study strongly reveal that MENO-F has potent antioxidant activity and hepatoproteetive activity against CCl4—induced hepatic damage in experimental animals.

Cytotoxic, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Nerium oleander collected in Morocco

Objective: To investigate the cytotoxic, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of ethanolic and aqueous crude extracts of Nerium oleander(N. oleander) leaves. Methods: Cytotoxic activities were evaluated by WST-1 bioassay on two human cancer cell lines, namely human colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29 and human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The antioxidant property of N. oleander extracts was assessed by DPPH scavenging and he agar disc diffusion method was used for the determination of an毬-carotene bleaching tests. Ttimicrobial activity against different strains. Results: Using cell viability indices, the WST-1 test revealed that both extracts reduced cell viability in both cell lines. Our results also showed that aqueous extract was more active than ethanolic extract, with IC50 values of(1.67±0.22) μg/mL and(2.36±0.44) μg/mL on MDA-MB-231 cells, and(2.89±0.35) μg/mL and(5.09±0.52) μg/mL on HT29 cells, respectively. The study of the antioxidant activity showed that N. oleander extracts had a considerable scavenging capacity and exerted a significant preventive effect against the oxidation of 毬-carotene by the peroxide radicals. However, the antibacterial test showed that both ethanolic and aqueous extracts of N. oleander had a moderate antibacterial effect limited only to Gram-positive bacteria. Conclusions: Our results shows that N. oleander aqueous and ethanolic extracts have significant cytotoxic activities against tumor cell lines and possesses a strong antioxidant capacity, suggesting the presence of active compounds in N. oleander leaves that could be a potential source of phytochemicals with high medicinal value to be used in cancer treatment and prevention.

Exploring a natural MDR reversal agent: potential of medicinal food supplement Nerium oleander leaf distillate

Objective:To investigate the molecular effects ofNerium oleanderleaf distillate on paclitaxel and vincristine resistant(MCF-7/Pac and MCF-7/Vinc)cells and sensitive(MCF-7/S)cell lines.Methods:Nerium oleander(N.oleander)leaf extract was obtained by hydrodistillation method.The toxicological effects ofN.oleanderdistillate,previously suggested as medicinal food supplement,on drug resistant cells were evaluated by XTT tests.MDR modulation potential of the plant material was evaluated by flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy.Paclitaxel and vincristine were applied to the sublines in combination with N.oleanderdistillate.Results:Fractional inhibitory indices show thatN.oleanderdistillate did not increase the antiproliferative effects of anticancer drugs.N.oleandertreatment in to MCF-7/Pac and MCF-7/Vinc did not inhibit P-gp activity and MDR1 gene expression level.Conclusions:As a result it may be suggested that althoughN.oleanderdistillate has some medicinal effects as food supplement it may not be suitable as an MDR modulator for drug resistant breast cancer cells.