Antioxidant Activity of Root of Achyranthes Aspera and its Comparison with Melatonin in Recovery of Oxidative Stress

The free radicals produced during the cellular oxidation and metabolic processes cause excessive damage to biomembranes and macromolecules like DNA, carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. Such a condition of oxidative stress and the harmful effects of free radicals bring about imbalance in the antioxidant system of the human body. The pathological conditions so developed are implicated into many dreadful diseases and fast ageing as well. In the present study, the antioxidant activity of the Chloroformic root extract of the well known medicinal herb, Achyranthes aspera is evaluated in recovery from H2O2 induced oxidative stress in lymphocytes of Oryctolagus cuniculus. The H2O2 incubated lymphocytes showed increased lipid peroxidation in terms of Malondialdehyde (MDA 3.83 ± 0.09), and also altered the activities of other antioxidant enzymes and glutathione systems, viz., Superoxide dismutase (SOD – 1.47 ± 0.08), Reduced Glutathione (GSH – 2.42 ± 0.03), Catalase (CAT – 3.75 ±0.04) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx – 4.66 ± 0.62). Pretreatment with Chloroformic root extract of Achyranthes aspera in increasing concentrations (5 μl, 10 μl, 20 μl / 10,000 cells) for 18 hours was found to decrease lipid peroxidation and increase the antioxidant activities of the significant enzymes, viz., MDA (1.07 ± 0.04), GSH (5.03 ± 0.09), SOD (3.15 ± 0.06), CAT (5.16 ± 0.06) and GPx (8.16 ± 0.17). The decline in the state of oxidative stress attributed to the high antioxidant activity and efficient free radical scavenging ability of the Chloroformic root extract of Achyranthes aspera. Further, the antioxidant activity of root of Achyranthes aspera was compared with the powerful antioxidant, Melatonin. The melatonin exposure (5 μl, 10 μl, 20 μl / 10,000 cells) also enhanced the antioxidant activity of the enzymes, viz., GSH (3.78 ± 0.17), SOD (2.94 ± 0.04), CAT (4.60 ± 0.05) and GPx (7.66 ± 0.19), and decreased lipid peroxidation in terms of MDA (1.60 ± 0.10). Both the Chloroformic root extract and melatonin as well, were found effective in recovery from oxidative stress, but the root extract of Achyranthes aspera was reported to exhibit high antioxidant activity as compared to melatonin.