Centella asiatica known as Gotu Kola is a medicinal plant that has been used in folk medicine for hundreds of years as well as in scientifically oriented medicine. The active compounds include pentacyclic triterpenes, mainly asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic and madecassic acids. Centella...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a hydroalcoholic extract from Galinsoga parviflora herb (GP) in some aspects of the endothelial cell function necessary for anti-inflammatory activity and wound healing and relate these to the GP phytochemical profile. This study demonstrated that the GP extract caused a dose-dependent reduction of IL-6 secretion on IL-1β-stimulated endothelial cells. The IL-6 release was decreased to 33% ± 9% while this did not influence the IL-6 secretion without stimulation. Additionally, the GP extract exhibited an anti-hyaluronidase activity (IC₅₀ = 0.47 mg/mL), which was evidently stronger than the positive control kaempferol (IC₅₀ = 0.78 mg/mL) as well as a moderate and concentration-dependent, antioxidant activity. The results of the scratch assay showed that exposure of the endothelial cells to GP induced complete healing of the damage after 12 h of the study. The phytochemical profile of the extract was studied by using spectrophotometric (total amount of polyphenols and flavonoids) and UPLC (phenolic acids) methods. The main compound in the GP extract was a chlorogenic acid (2.00 ± 0.01 mg/g by UPLC). The total content of polyphenols was 98.30 ± 0.14 mg of chlorogenic acid equivalent/g of the dry herb and content of flavonoids amounted to 6.15 ± 0.41 mg quercetin equivalent/g of the dry herb. Moreover, the presence of flavonoids in G. parviflora was provided after their isolation and identification by spectroscopic methods. In conclusion, it demonstrated that application of GP in the treatment of skin lesions gives possibility of wound healing based on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hyaluronidase-inhibiting activities of G. parviflora herb extract.

Introduction. Diabetes is characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia, resulting from a defect in insulin secretion or abnormal functioning of this hormone. The consequence of the lack of insulin is the disturbed metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Chronic hyperglycemia causes damage and dysfunction of many organs. One of the ways to support the treatment of diabetes is the use of plant preparations. Aim. The aim of the study was to examine and compare the biological (α-glucosidase and antioxidative) activity and the content of polyphenols and flavonoids in selected plants: Anserinae herba, Alchemillae herba and Fragariae folium, included in herbal tea blends used in diabetes. Material and methods. The content of polyphenols was determined by applying the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and the flavonoid content by the AlCl3 method. The antioxidant properties were tested using the reagent method DPPH and CUPRAC, while the inhibitory activity of α-glucosidase by measuring the absorbance of p-nitrophenol from PNPG released by hydrolysis of sugars by the enzyme. Results. High total polyphenols content in the tested plant extracts was found, amounting to 121.30; 98.30; 71.66 mg gallic acid equivalent/g for Alchemillae herba, Fragariae folium and Anserinae herba, respectively, and high flavonoid content (17.56, 12.25, 15.48 mg quercetin equivalent/g, respectively). Antioxidant activity for extracts with a concentration of 0.312 mg/ml was from 46.22 to 79.71% (in the analysis with DPPH radical), while the absorbance value of these tests determined by the CUPRAC method was A = 0.49-1.01. The effect was weaker than vitamin C. The results indicated a strong inhibitory ability of α-glucosidase, which was > 98% for all tested extracts at the concentration of 0.1 mg/ml, and was many times higher than the standard acarbose analyzed at the above concentration, and comparable with the acrabose activity at a concentration of 10 mg/ml. Conclusions. The inhibitory α-glucosidase and antioxidant activity indicates the existence of this mechanism included in analyzed plant extracts, as ingredients herbal tea blends of used in diabetes.