Production of reactive oxygen species in macrophages treated with essential oil of Croton argyrophyllus Kunth

Background Essential oils are complex systems which consist mainly of volatile compounds of lipophilic source, as terpenes, sesquiterpenes and some non-terpenes [1]. Resulting from secondary metabolism, essential oil from Croton argyrophyllus (EOCA) is commonly extracted from its leaves. It is known that the essential oils from Croton species exhibit good antioxidant activity against DPPH free radical and reactive oxygen species (ROS) [2]. Several diseases are attributed to the increase of free radicals that show the importance of endogenous antioxidants like enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD). Considering the use in folk medicine, it is relevant to find which concentration of EOCA has antioxidant effect against free radicals. To answer this question, the study aimed to evaluate ROS production in peritoneal macrophages of essential oil from C. argyrophyllus.