Anti-Inflammatory and Wound Healing Properties of Leaf and Rhizome Extracts from the Medicinal Plant Peucedanum ostruthium (L.) W. D. J. Koch

Molecules. 2022 Jul 2;27(13):4271. doi: 10.3390/molecules27134271.

Abstract

Peucedanum ostruthium (L.) W. D. J. Koch (Apiaceae) is a worldwide perennial herb native to the mountains of central Southern Europe. The rhizome has a long tradition in popular medicine, while ethnobotanical surveys have revealed local uses of leaves for superficial injuries. To experimentally validate these uses, plant material was collected in the Gran Paradiso National Park, Aosta Valley, Italy, and the rhizome and leaves were micromorphologically and phytochemically characterized. Polyphenol-enriched hydroalcoholic rhizome and leaf extracts, used in cell-free assays, showed strong and concentration-dependent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In vitro tests revealed cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase inhibition by the leaf extract, while the rhizome extract induced only lipoxygenase inhibition. MTT assays on HaCaT keratinocytes and L929 fibroblasts showed low cytotoxicity of extracts. In vitro scratch wound test on HaCaT resulted in a strong induction of wound closure with the leaf extract, while the effect of the rhizome extract was lower. The same test on L929 cells showed similar wound closure induction with both extracts. The results confirmed the traditional medicinal uses of the rhizome as an anti-inflammatory and wound healing remedy for superficial injuries but also highlighted that the leaves can be exploited for these purposes with equal or superior effectiveness.

Keywords: anti-inflammatory activity; antioxidant activity; leaf extract; micromorphology; phytochemical characterization; plants traditional use; rhizome extract; wound-healing activity.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / analysis
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / pharmacology
  • Apiaceae*
  • Lipoxygenases
  • Plant Extracts / analysis
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology
  • Plant Leaves
  • Plants, Medicinal* / chemistry
  • Rhizome / chemistry
  • Wound Healing

Substances

  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents
  • Plant Extracts
  • Lipoxygenases

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Gran Paradiso National Park (PNGP, Torino, Italy), 100022-2018-LC-ALTRI-EP-N_001 (DISTAV-UNIGE) (L.C.); C.D. is recipient of a PhD scholarship from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR): XXXVI Course, STAT-DiSTAV, University of Genova, Italy.