Part 3 Profile of bioactive compounds in Nymphaea alba L. leaves growing in Egypt: hepatoprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity

Conclusion

The results highlight the high phenolic content of N. alba leaves, denoting the predominance of hydrolysable tannins, mainly ellagitannins, in addition to the flavonoid content of major antioxidant activity. N. alba also appeared as a rich source of essential fatty acid with high nutritional value. Administration of N. alba extract remarkably protected against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity to an extent comparable with silymarin. The suppression of oxidative stress and the inhibition of a crucial pro-inflammatory mediator such as TNF-α might be the possible mechanisms for the hepatoprotective activity of N. alba that help in restoration of the physiological and histological features of the liver. This preclinical study provides convincing evidence that N. alba extract can control inflammatory and oxidative stress-related liver diseases.

Abbreviations

A:

Absorbance

AAE:

Aqueous ethanolic extract

ALP:

Alkaline phosphatase

ALT:

Alanine aminotransferase

AST:

Aspartate aminotransferase

CAT:

Catalase

DPPH:

1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl

EFAs:

Essential fatty acids

FAME:

Fatty acid methyl ester

GGT:

Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase

GLC:

Gas Liquid Chromatography

GSH:

Reduced glutathione

HR-ESI-MS/MS:

High-resolution electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

MUFA:

Monounsaturated fatty acids

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

SFA:

Saturated fatty acids

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TAC:

Total antioxidant capacity

TNF-α:

Tumour necrosis factor

USM:

Unsaponifiable matter

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Dr. Sheren Youns, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Menofyia University, Egypt, for her help in the histopathological part of the study.

Funding

This research is not supported by any funding agency.

Availability of data and materials

The data and materials of this article are included within the article.

Authors’ contributions

All authors conceived and designed the experiments. RO Bakr helped in plant extraction, interpretation of HR-ESI-MS/MS, GLC analysis, and DPPH assay. MM El-Naa, conducted animal experiments for hepatoprotective, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and interpreted data. SS Zaghloul, helped in designing the experiment, revising the manuscript. MM Omar helped in plant extraction, designing and conducting the animal experiment. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Animal care and handling was performed in conformance with approved protocols of ethics committee of the MSA University (Reference number EC 10 PG 10/2011) and Egyptian Community guidelines for animal care.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA), Giza, Egypt

    Riham Omar Bakr & Soumaya Saad Zaghloul

  2. Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA), Giza, Egypt

    Mona Mohamed El-Naa

  3. Pharmaceutics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA), Giza, Egypt

    Mahmoud Mohamed Omar

  4. Axe of Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universite Laval, Quebec City, Canada

    Mahmoud Mohamed Omar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Riham Omar Bakr.

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