Antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities of Sideritis perfoliata subsp. perfoliata (Lamiaceae)

Sideritis perfoliata L. subsp. perfoliata is a plant widely used in folk medicine in Greece since antiquity because of its antiinflammatory, antirheumatic, antiulcer, digestive and vasoprotective properties. Phytochemical investigations of the polar extracts afforded four flavonoid glycosides, four phenylpropanoic glycosides, caffeic acid and one iridoid, ajugoside. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are implicated in the aetiology of several inflammatory processes. In the present study polar fractions and isolated compounds from S. perfoliata subsp. perfoliata were evaluated for their antioxidant activity using DPPH spectrophotometric and TBA lipid peroxidation assays, as well as for their antiinflammatory activity using the soybean lipoxygenase bioassay. All extracts and isolated compounds showed significant antioxidant and inhibitory activity against soybean lipoxygenase. These findings give support to the ethnopharmacological use of the plant in the treatment of several inflammatory ailments.