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Evaluation of antioxidant properties of medical plants using microbial test systems

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Abstract

The antioxidant activities of extracts from leaves of the medicinal plants growing in Siberia were examined. Total antioxidant activity was determined using in vitro methods including DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical) free radical scavenging assay, chelating capacity assay with ferrozine, evaluation of capacity to protect plasmid DNA against oxidative damage, measurement of H2O2 production, and measurement of total flavonoid and tannin content as well. Using in vivo experiments, we also evaluated capacities of the plant extracts to protect bacteria Escherichia coli against bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of H2O2, and influence of the plant extracts on expression of antioxidant gene katG, encoding catalase. The extracts from Chamerion angustifolium, Filipendula vulgaris and Pyrola rotundifolia indicated the highest levels of antioxidant activity both in vivo and in vitro. Our data suggest that the extracts of the tested plants may provide antioxidant effects on bacteria simultaneously through different pathways, including direct radical scavenging, iron chelation and induction of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to doctor K. Tao for kindly providing the strain of bacteria. This work was supported by the grant of « Programs of integration projects of Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences ».

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Physiology and Genetics of Microorganisms, Institute of Ecology and Genetics of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Goleva 13, 614081, Perm, Russia

    Galina V. Smirnova, Nadezda G. Muzyka, Zoya Y. Samoylova & Oleg N. Oktyabrsky

  2. Laboratory of Phytochemistry, Central Siberian Botanical Garden, Siberian Division of Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Zolotodolinskaya 101, 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Galina I. Vysochina & Tatyana A. Kukushkina

Authors
  1. Galina V. Smirnova
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  2. Galina I. Vysochina
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  3. Nadezda G. Muzyka
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  4. Zoya Y. Samoylova
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  5. Tatyana A. Kukushkina
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  6. Oleg N. Oktyabrsky
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Correspondence to Oleg N. Oktyabrsky.

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Smirnova, G.V., Vysochina, G.I., Muzyka, N.G. et al. Evaluation of antioxidant properties of medical plants using microbial test systems. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 26, 2269–2276 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-010-0417-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-010-0417-4

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