On the benefit of galls of Quercus brantii Lindl. in murine colitis: the role of free gallic acid.

Basic research On the benefit of galls of Quercus brantii Lindl. in murine colitis: the role of free gallic acid Mahnaz Khanavi1, Mansoureh Sabbagh-Bani-Azad1, Amir Hossein Abdolghaffari2,3, Mahdi Vazirian1, Isa Isazadeh1, Mohammad Amin Rezvanfar4, Maryam Baeeri4, Azadeh Mohammadirad4, Roja Rahimi1,5, Mohammad Reza Shams-Ardekani1,5, Mohammad Abdollahi4 Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Medicinal Plants Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran 2 Pharmacology and Applied Medicine, Department of Medicinal Plants Research Center, Institute of Medicinal Plants, ACECR, Karaj, Iran 3 International Campus, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 4 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 5 Faculty of Traditional Iranian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 1 Submitted: 23 August 2012 Accepted: 26 November 2012 Arch Med Sci 2014; 10, 6: 1225–1234 DOI: 10.5114/aoms.2014.47831 Copyright © 2014 Termedia & Banach Abstract Introduction: In this study we investigated the effect of gall of Quercus brantii Lindl., a traditional Iranian medicine, in a murine model of experimental colitis induced in male rats by rectal administration of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). Material and methods: Quantification of the main active components was done for estimation of total phenolic content and free gallic acid. Gall of Quercus brantii Lindl. in two forms (gall powder and gall hydro alcoholic extract) was gavaged for 10 days (500 mg/kg). Ten days after induction of colitis, colonic status was examined by macroscopic, microscopic and bio chemical analyses. Colonic tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were analyzed as biomarkers of inflammatory condition. To determine the role of oxidative stress (OS) in colitis, the levels of cellular lipid peroxidation (LPO), total antioxidant power (TAP) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) were measured in colon tissues. Results: TNBS-induced colitis exhibited a significant increase in colon MPO activity and concentrations of cellular LPO, TNF-α and IL-1β, while TAP was significantly reduced. Microscopic evaluations of the colonic damage in the colitis group revealed multifocal degenerative changes in the epithelial lining and areas of necrosis, extensive mucosal and sub-mucosal damage with congested blood vessels, edema and hemorrhages along with extensive infiltration of inflammatory cells. Parameters including macroscopic and microscopic scores, TNF-α, IL-1β, LPO, TAP and MPO improved by both gall extract and gall powder of Quercus brantii Lindl. and reached close to normal levels. The level of total phenols (GAE/100 g of sample) and free gallic acid were estimated to be 88.43 ±7.23 (mean ± SD) and 3.74% of dry weight, respectively. Conclusions: The present study indicates that the gall of Quercus brantii Lindl. is able to exert antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects on the biochemical and pathological parameters of colitis. Key words: colitis, oxidative stress, Quercus brantii Lindl., animal. Corresponding author: Prof. Mohammad Abdollahi Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center Tehran University of Medical Sciences Tehran 1417614411, Iran Phone/fax: +98 21 66959104 E-mail: mohammad. M. Khanavi, M. Sabbagh-Bani-Azad, A.H. Abdolghaffari, M. Vazirian, I. Isazadeh, M.A. Rezvanfar, M. Baeeri, A. Mohammadirad, R. Rahimi, M.R. Shams-Ardekani, M. Abdollahi Introduction Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is one of the chronic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract with an immuno-inflammatory origin. Recent studies have confirmed involvement of some pathological elements and beneficial effects of their inhibitors or activators such as growth factors and nitric oxide [1–3], inflammatory cytokines such as prostaglandins [4, 5] or tumor necrosis factor (TNF) [6–8], immunoregulators [9–11], oxidative stress [12], microbes [13–16], probiotics, potassium channel openers [17], adenosine triphosphate (ATP) donors [18], and phosphodiesterase inhibitors (PDEIs) [19–21] in IBD. Most of the synthetic drugs for management of IBD have serious adverse effects that led researchers to work on complementary and alternative remedies that can induce marginal remission in disease activity [22, 23]. Quercus brantii Lindl., belonging to the family of Fagaceae, is a small tree with galls arising on its young branches as a result of attack by the gall wasp Adleria gallae-tinctoria [24]. This herb is endemic in Lorestan and Kordestan provinces of Iran. The major components of galls are tannins, gallic acid, syringic acid, ellagic acid, β-sitosterol, amentoflavone, hexamethyl ether, isocryptomerin, methyl betulate, and hexagalloyl glucose [25]. Quercus brantii galls (locally called ‘mazoo’) are famous in traditional Iranian medicine for treating chronic diarrhea and many diseases, with or without inflammatory pathogenesis [26]. Regarding its great medicinal value, Quercus galls have been reported to have the following pharmacological actions: astringent, anti-pyretic, anti-parkinsonism [25], anti-tremorine, local anesthetic, central nervous system (CNS) depressant, analgesic [25, 27], anti-diabetic [25, 28], anti-bacterial [29–34], anti-oxidant [35, 36] and anti-inflammatory [25]. Therefore, the above knowledge led us to examine the beneficial effects of Q. brantii in a murine model of colitis to understand the mechanisms by which this herb might act. Quantification of the main active components was done for estimation of total phenolic content and free gallic acid. Material and methods Chemicals 2,4,6-Trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) and rhodanine from Sigma-Aldrich Chemie (GmbH, Munich, Germany), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), n-butanol, hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HETAB), 2,4,6-tri (2-pyridyl)-s-triazine (TPTZ), diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH), methanol, butyl hydroxy anisol (BHA), hydrochloric acid (HCl), malondialdehyde (MDA), ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), O-di- 1226 anisidine hydrochloride, hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid, sodium acetate, Coomassie reagent, bovine serum albumin (BSA), ferric chloride (FeCl3 · 6 H2O), sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), sulfuric acid (H2SO4), phosphoric acid (H3PO4), potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4), potassium hydrogen diphosphate (K2HPO4), peroxide hydrogen (H2O2), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), Na-K-tartrate, cupric sulfate (CuSO4 · 5 H2O), Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and Gallic acid from Merck (Germany), rat-specific tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) ELISA kits from Bender MedSystems (Austria), and dexamethasone and vitamin E from the local Pharmaceutical Co. (Tehran) were used in this study. Plant material The galls of Quercus brantii Lindl. were col (...truncated)