The Ethanol Extract ofOsmanthus fragransFlowers Reduces Oxidative Stress and Allergic Airway Inflammation in an Animal Model

Abstract

TheOsmanthus fragransflower, a popular herb in Eastern countries, contains several antioxidant compounds.Ben Cao Gang Mu, traditional Chinese medical literature, describes the usefulness of these flowers for phlegm and stasis reduction, arrest of dysentery with blood in the bowel, and stomachache and diarrhea treatment. However, modern evidence regarding the therapeutic efficacy of these flowers is limited. This study was aimed at assessing the antioxidative effects of the ethanol extract ofO. fragransflowers (OFE)in vivoand evaluating its antioxidant maintenance and therapeutic effect on an allergic airway inflammation in mice. After OFE’s oral administration to mice, the values obtained in the oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay as well as the glutathione concentration in the lungs and spleens of mice increased while thiobarbituric acid reactive substances decreased significantly, indicating OFE’s significantin vivoantioxidant activity. OFE was also therapeutically efficacious in a mouse model of ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation. Orally administered OFE suppressed ovalbumin-specific IgE production and inflammatory cell infiltration in the lung. Moreover, the antioxidative state of the mice improved. Thus, our findings confirm the ability of theO. fragransflowers to reduce phlegm and suggest that OFE may be useful as an antiallergic agent.