The Effect of Standardised Leaf Extracts of Gaultheria procumbens on Multiple Oxidants, Inflammation-Related Enzymes, and Pro-Oxidant and Pro-Inflammatory Functions of Human Neutrophils

Abstract

The leaves of Gaultheria procumbens are polyphenol-rich traditional medicines used to treat inflammation-related diseases. The present study aimed to optimise the solvent for the effective recovery of active leaf components through simple direct extraction and verify the biological effects of the selected extract in a model of human neutrophils ex vivo. The extracts were comprehensively standardised, and forty-one individual polyphenols, representing salicylates, catechins, procyanidins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids, were identified by UHPLC–PDA–ESI–MS3. The chosen methanol–water (75:25, v/v) extract (ME) was obtained with the highest extraction yield and total phenolic levels (397.9 mg/g extract’s dw), including 98.9 mg/g salicylates and 299.0 mg/g non-salicylate polyphenols. In biological tests, ME revealed a significant and dose-dependent ability to modulate pro-oxidant and pro-inflammatory functions of human neutrophils: it strongly reduced the ROS level and downregulated the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and tissue remodelling enzymes, especially IL-1β and elastase 2, in cells stimulated by fMLP, LPS, or fMLP + cytochalasin B. The extracts were also potent direct scavengers of in vivo relevant oxidants (O2•−, •OH, and H2O2) and inhibitors of pro-inflammatory enzymes (cyclooxygenase-2, hyaluronidase, and lipoxygenase). The statistically significant correlations between the tested variables revealed the synergic contribution of individual polyphenols to the observed effects and indicated them as useful active markers for the standardisation of the extract/plant material. Moreover, the safety of ME was confirmed in cytotoxicity tests. The obtained results might partially explain the ethnomedicinal application of G. procumbens leaves and support the usage of the standardised leaf extract in the adjuvant treatment of oxidative stress and inflammation-related chronic diseases.