Antioxidant Effect of Total Flavone of Hawthorn Leaf in Mice

Objective To study the antioxidant effect of total flavone of hawthorn leaf(TFHL) in mouse and its effect of scavenging hydroxyl free radical(OH~-) in vitro.Methods The mice were treated with TFHL(40 mg/kg,80 mg/kg) through oral gavage daily for 30 d,and to determine the activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) in blood and the contents of lipofuscin(LF),malondialdehyde(MDA) and SOD in liver,brain and heart by biochemical methods.OH~-was induced by ascorbate-Cu~(2+) reaction system,and to estimate the effect of TFHL on scavenging OH~-by colorimetry.Results In TFHL group the activities of SOD and GSH-Px in blood and the activities of SOD in liver,brain and heart were significantly increased,and the contents of LF and MDA in mice tissues were obriously reduced TFHL from 12.5 mg/L to 150 mg/L had marked effects on scavenging OH~-from 38.5% ～100%,and it showed dose-relationship(r=0.995).Conculsion TFHL can obviously inhibit damage of free radical and prevent lipid peroxidation,the mechanisms maybe associated with directly scavenging the OH~-and increasing the activities of antioxidation enzymes in mice tissues.