Antioxidative and acute anti-inflammatory effects of Campsis grandiflora flower

The present study was undertaken to investigate the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of the extract of the flower of Campsis grandiflora (Thunb.) K. Schum. Exposure of human dermal fibroblasts to 50% EtOH extract of Campsis grandiflora flower (ECG) at 10 and 100 μg/ml showed significant protective effect against hydrogen peroxide (300 μM). ECG not only protected cell survival from H2O2-induced toxicity, but also inhibited the H2O2-induced leakage of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme release and DNA fragmentation significantly. It was also found that ECG showed scavenging activities of radicals and reactive oxygen species with IC50 values of 20 μg/ml against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and 52 μg/ml against superoxide radicals in the xanthine/xanthine oxidase system, respectively. Topically applied ECG dose-dependently inhibited arachidonic acid (AA)- and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-induced ear edema in mice. Consistent with its antioxidative properties in vitro, the present results suggest the therapeutic potential of ECG for acute skin inflammation that may involve oxidative tissue damage.