The
antioxidant activities of 53 medicinal plants used in Bamun
folk medicine for the management of
jaundice and
hepatitis were investigated. The studies were done using rat hepatic microsomes for lipid peroxidation and
bovine serum albumin (BSA) for carbonyl group formation. Silymarine was used as reference compound. Fifteen different extracts were effective at a dose of 200 microg/ml in both experiments. Specifically, 25 extracts inhibited lipid peroxidation initiated non-enzymatically by
ascorbic acid while 18 inhibited peroxidation as determined by reduced
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (
NADPH). The inhibitory concentration 50 (IC(50)) of 23 different
plant extracts was lower than 200 microg/ml in the microsomal lipid peroxidation inhibition study. Fifteen of the 23 extracts were active in preventing
protein oxidation by inhibiting the formation of the carbonyl group on BSA with an IC(50) value less than 200 microg/ml. The results suggest that the
antioxidant activity of the extracts, may be due to their ability to scavenge
free radicals involved in microsomal lipid peroxidation or in
protein oxidation. These biochemical processes are involved in the aetiology of
toxic hepatitis.