Antioxidant Capacity and Behavioral Relevance of a Polyphenolic Extract of Chrysanthellum americanum in a Rat Model of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

Chrysanthellum americanum L. (Vatke) is a medicinal plant from the Compositae family used in west-African traditional medicine, known for its flavonoid and saponin richness and for its strong antioxidant potential. In the present study, we assessed the effects of Chrysanthellum americanum polyphenolic extract in the psychological stress-induced rat model of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a chronic functional digestive tract disorder marked by immune and inflammatory-related disturbances of central nervous and peripheral intestinal systems, which is often associated with mood disorders including depression and anxiety. Consequently, memory impairment, anxiety and depression behavioral indicators, and cerebral oxidative stress biomarker dynamics were evaluated in a multifactorial heterotypic stress-exposed IBS rats after 6-day gavage with polyphenolic C. americanum extract (100 mg/kg body weight). Y-maze, elevated plus maze, and forced swimming tests were used for assessing behavioral responses. Administration of the extract exhibited significant anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects coupled with significantly increased temporal lobe antioxidant enzyme specific activity (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) and decreased malondialdehyde levels, a well-known lipid peroxidation marker. Furthermore, linear regression statistical analyses showed significant correlations between the oxidative stress parameters and behavioral tests. In conclusion, our results suggest that the administration of Chrysanthellum americanum polyphenolic extract could ameliorate mood and cognitive disturbances related to stress-induced in an IBS rat model. This could be also related to cerebral oxidative stress status attenuation.

Phytochemical investigation of five herbal teas useful in mental disorders treatment

“…The screening of the different extracts revealed the presence of chemical interest groups in the selective extracts, namely terpenes, flavonoids, saponins and and phenolic acid. These results are consistent with the previous report on the phytochemistry of these different traditional drugs [9,13,23] . Preclinical studies have shown that certain compounds such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, saponins and terpenes, which have anxiolytic effects in a wide range of animal models, are involved in the treatment of mental disorders [22] .…”

“…Plants, with their wide variety of chemical constituents, offer a promising source of medicines for many diseases, including mental disorders. This present study concerns Cymbopogon citratus, Lippia chevalieri, Combretum micratum, Chrysantellum americanum and Tetrapleura tetraptera involved in the treatment of mental illness [9,13] . These five plants have been used as herbal teas for years in some West African countries, i.e.…”

The Modulation of Oxytocin and Cortisol Levels in Major Depression Disorder and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

“…Compared with irritable bowel disease (IBD) who is more like an organic disease, IBS lies more in the spectrum of functionality, gastrointestinal deficiency who has been associated with neuropsychiatric disturbances [38][39][40], due to prolonged exposure to stressful stimuli [34,35].…”

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Neurological Deficiencies: Is There A Relationship? The Possible Relevance of the Oxidative Stress Status

“…Still, the common ground between some of the mentioned psychiatric illnesses (which are subtypes of affective syndromes) and, according to ROME IV criteria, IBS is the lower or greater extent of stress axis impairment [47]. Previous studies have shown that oxidative stress changes also occurred in stress-based animal models [46,48,49]. This could be a specific piece of evidence that suggests that a central nervous modulation pathway is implicated in IBS pathophysiology, with oxidative stress being a possible signaling pathway but also an unwanted effect.…”