Evaluation of the anti-stress effects of five Tunisian aromatic and medicinal plants in vitro

The present study was designed to evaluate the anti-stress effects of the ethanol extracts of five medicinal plants from Southern part of Tunisia, traditionally used in folk medicine: Cymbopogon schoenanthus Spreng. (CSEE), Crithmum maritimum L. (CMEE), Arthrophytum scoparium (Pomel) ll?jin (ASEE), Artemisia herba-alba Asso. (AHEE), and Rhanterium suaveolens Desf. (RSEE). Assays using SH-SY5Y cells and HSP47-transformed CHO cells (HSP47+/ - cells) were performed. Heat (at 42 ?C, for 90 min) was used to induce stress in pre-treated cells. The tested plants at 1/1000 dilution significantly enhanced the reversal of the heat shock protein expression in heat-stressed HSP47+/- cells as shown by the enhanced expression of heat shock proteins HSP27, HSP70 and HSP90 mRNAs in heat-treated SH-SY5Y cells. Moreover, CSEE at 1/1000 and 1/100 (v/v) dilutions showed no cytotoxic effects on both SH-SY5Y and HSP47-/+ cells. In addition, the results demonstrated that CSEE and RSEE promoted the recovery of acetylcholine (Ach) compared to heat-stressed SH-SY5Y cells. These results suggest that C. schoenanthus, C. maritimum, and R. suaveolens can modulate stress, and a follow up study on the bioactivities of these species may offer a new source of phytomedicines for the effective treatment of stress-related diseases.