PROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF THREE ACHILLEA SPECIES AGAINST LIPID PEROXIDATION, PROTEIN OXIDATION AND DNA DAMAGE IN VITRO

The present study was designed to investigate the protective ability of the ethanol extracts of Achillea aleppica D.C. subsp. aleppica (AA), Achillea aleppica D.C. subsp. zederbaueri (Hayek) Hub.-Mor (AZ) and Achillea biebersteinii A fan. (AB) against the lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation and DNA damage induced by Fenton system. Ethanol extract of Achillea species were evaluated by quantifying the ability of different concentrations of plant extracts to supress Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver homogenates. The inhibition of lipid peroxidation by ethanol extracts of AA, AB and AZ was the result of their scavenging effect on Fe2+/ascorbate generated free radicals. The ability of AA, AZ and AB to prevent oxidative damage to bovine serum albumin (BSA) induced by Fe3+/H2O2 and ascorbic acid was investigated. The ethanol extracts of AA, AB and AZ at different concentrations (50-1000 mu g ml(-1)) efficiently prevented protein oxidation induced by hydroxyl radical as assayed by protein oxidation markers including protein carbonyl formation (PCO). We have also investigated the effect of ethanol extracts of AA, AB and AZ on DNA cleavage induced by UV-photolysis of H2O2 using pBluescript M13+ plasmid DNA. These extracts significantly inhibited DNA damage induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, Achillea aleppica D.C. subsp. aleppica (AA), Achillea aleppica D.C. subsp. zederbaueri (Hayek) Hub.-Mor (AZ) and Achillea biebersteinii Afan. extracts may be useful in the food industry as effective synthetic antioxidants.