Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Moroccan Erica arborea L.

Aim. - The present study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity, and acute toxicity of Moroccan Erica arborea leaves. Methods. - Antioxidant capacity was assessed by diphenyle-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), phosphomolybdate (PPM) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) tests and anti-inflammatory capacity was evaluated by hind paw oedema model using carrageenan-induced inflammation in rat. The acute toxicity was evaluated using mice. Results. - Acute toxicity of ethanolic extract of E. arborea showed no sign of toxicity at dose of 5 g/kg B.W. Our extracts have important antioxidant properties. The efficient concentration of the ethanolic extract (10.22 mu g/ml) required for decreasing initial DPPH concentration by 50% was comparable to that of standard solution butyl-hydroxy-toluene (BHT) (8.87 mu g/ml). The administration of ethanolic extract at doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg B.W. was able to prevent plantar oedema and exhibited a significant inhibition against carrageenan-induced inflammation when compared to the control group (NaCl 0.9%) but comparable to those of diclofenac (reference drug). Conclusions. Our results show that the leaves of E. arborea may contain some bioactive compounds which are responsible for the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities observed here. Our finding may indicate the possibility of using the extracts of this plant to prevent the antioxidant and inflammatory processes. (C) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.