In Vitro Synergistic Antioxidant Activity and Identification of Antioxidant Components from Astragalus membranaceus and Paeonia lactiflora

Abstract

Many traditionally used herbs demonstrate significantly better pharmacological effects when used in combination than when used alone. However, the mechanism underlying this synergism is still poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic antioxidant activity of Astragalus membranaceus (AME) and Paeonia Lactiflora (PL), and identify the potential antioxidant components by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazine (DPPH) radical spiking test followed by a high performance liquid chromatography separation combined with diode array detection and tandem mass spectrometry analysis (DPPH-HPLC-DAD-MS/MS). Eight AME-PL combined extracts (E1–E8) were prepared based on bioactivity-guided fractionation. Among them, E1 exhibited the strongest synergistic effect in scavenging DPPH radicals and reducing ferric ions (P<0.05). Moreover, E1 presented strong cytoprotection against H2O2-induced oxidative damage in MRC-5 cells by suppressing the decrease of the superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) activities. A strong correlation between the increment of total phenolic/flavonoid and synergistic antioxidant activity, especially between the increment of total flavonoid and the increase in ferric reducing power was observed. Finally, seven antioxidant substances were identified in E1 as oxypaeoniflora, catechin, calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, fomononetin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, 9,10-dimethoxy-pterocarpan-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, quercetin and 2′-dihydroxy-3′,4′-dimethyl-isoflavan-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside.

Characterisation of phenolic antioxidants in Scabiosa arenaria flowers by LC–ESI-MS/MS and NMR

“…The fractionation of the most antioxidant extract ( S. arenaria ethyl acetate) (IC50 = 0.017 ± 0.001 mg/ml) demonstrated that the combination of antioxidants which constitute this crude extract has strong antioxidant activity and engender synergistic efficacy, while the less complex subfractions ( F 1 – F 9 ) may even generate antagonistic interaction (as indicated by their IC50 (0.03–0.6 mg/ml). Previous literatures have showed that the synergism might arise from a complex interaction among single ingredients with different pharmacological functions, such that one ingredient enhances the therapeutic effect of another active ingredient or via coalistic combinations, such that all ingredients involved are inactive individually but become active in combinations …”

“…Previous literatures have showed that the synergism might arise from a complex interaction among single ingredients with different pharmacological functions, such that one ingredient enhances the therapeutic effect of another active ingredient [18,19] or via coalistic combinations, such that all ingredients involved are inactive individually but become active in combinations. [17,20]…”

Antioxidation and anti-ageing activities of different stereoisomeric astaxanthin in vitro and in vivo

“…This assay was performed according to the previously reported method with a slight modification (Xu et al, 2014). The ethanol solution of AST (0.5 mL, 100 µg/mL) was added to ethanol solution of DPPH (2.5 mL, 120 µM).…”

Antimalarial actions of Lawsonia inermis, Tithonia diversifolia and Chromolaena odorata in combination

“…This could be as a result of abundant flavonoid compounds in C. odorata extract. Flavonoids have been implicated to have antagonistic reactions in combination due to its antioxidant property(Hajimehdipoor et al, 2014;Xu et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2003), andLing et al (2007) reported that flavonoids are the main components of C. odorata leaves; at least ten flavonoid compounds have been isolated and identified. Furthermore, Akala et al (2010) attributed antagonistic activity observed across all combination ratios, when a very active flavonoid compound was combined with chloroquine, to antioxidant property of flavonoids which scavenge the active compound present in chloroquine.…”