Comparative Studies on the Antioxidant Potential of Three Medicinal Plants Commonly Used in the Treatment of Haemorrhoids

Abstract

The present study sought to evaluate the antioxidant properties of stem bark of Anogeiessus leiocarpus, Axonopus compressus and Senna fistula that has been previously reported to be effective in the treatment of haemorrhoids. The amount of antioxidant agents such as phenols and flavonoids were determined in the methanolic extracts of their stem barks. In addition, the possible antioxidant mechanisms of the extracts were assessed by measuring their reducing property, iron (II) chelating ability, hydroxyl radical scavenging ability, ABTS radical scavenging ability and their ability to scavenge 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) radicals. The results show that extracts of Anogeiessus leiocarpus have a total phenolic content of (11.525±0.061µg/mg), Axonopus compressus (12.080±0.041µg/mg) and Senna fistula (12.813±0.054µg/mg). The highest level of total flavonoids were obtained in the extracts of Anogeiessus leiocarpus (1.321±0.034 µg/mg) followed by Senna fistula (1.127±0.034µg/mg) and Axonopus compressus (0.681±0.034µg/mg). The highest DPPH radical scavenging activity was found in Anogeiessus leiocarpus while the least value was recorded for Senna fistula. In addition, extracts of Anogeiessus leiocarpus was recorded to have the highest hydroxyl scavenging activity. Furthermore, ABTS radical scavenging activities of the three plants revealed that extracts of Axonopus compressus had the least scavenging activity. Taken together, we conclude that since extracts of stem bark of the three plants exhibited potent antioxidant potentials and haemorrhoids is intrinsically linked with oxidative stress, then Anogeiessus leiocarpus, Axonopus compressus and Senna fistula possibly exerts their antihaemorrhoidal action using a combination of mechanisms and their antioxidant potency possibly plays a major role in ameliorating secondary complications resulting from oxidative damage in haemorrhoids.

Keywords – Antioxidant, Haemorrhoids, Medicinal plants, Oxidative stress, Treatment