A complex antioxidant system has been developed in mammals to relieve oxidative stress. However, excessive reactive species derived from oxygen and nitrogen may still lead to oxidative damage to tissue and organs. Oxidative stress has been considered as a conjoint pathological mechanism, and it contributes to initiation and progression of liver injury. A lot of risk factors, including alcohol, drugs, environmental pollutants and irradiation, may induce oxidative stress in liver, which in turn results in severe liver diseases, such as alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Application of antioxidants signifies a rational curative strategy to prevent and cure liver diseases involving oxidative stress. Although conclusions drawn from clinical studies remain uncertain, animal studies have revealed the promising in vivo therapeutic effect of antioxidants on liver diseases. Natural antioxidants contained in edible or medicinal plants often possess strong antioxidant and free radical scavenging abilities as well as anti-inflammatory action, which are also supposed to be the basis of other bioactivities and health benefits. In this review, PubMed was extensively searched for literature research. The keywords for searching oxidative stress were free radicals, reactive oxygen, nitrogen species, anti-oxidative therapy, Chinese medicines, natural products, antioxidants and liver diseases. The literature, including ours, with studies on oxidative stress and anti-oxidative therapy in liver diseases were the focus. Various factors that cause oxidative stress in liver and effects of antioxidants in the prevention and treatment of liver diseases were summarized, questioned, and discussed.

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The Role of Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants in Liver Diseases

Carthamus tinctorius L is commonly known as Safflower C tinctorius extracts and oil are important in drug development with numerous pharmacological activities in the world This plant is cultivated mainly for its seed, which is used as edible oil For a long time C tinctorius has been used in traditional medicines as a purgative, analgesic, antipyretic and an antidote to poisoning It is a useful plant in painful menstrual problems, post-partum hemorrhage and osteoporosis C tinctorius has recently been shown to have antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic activities Carthamin, safflower yellow are the main constituents in the flower of C tinctorius Carthamidin, isocarthamidin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, safflor yellow A, safflamin C and luteolin are the main constituents which are reported from this plant Caryophyllene, p-allyltoluene, 1-acetoxytetralin and heneicosane were identified as the major components for C tinctorius flowers essential oil Due to the easy collection of the plant and being widespread and also remarkable biological activities, this plant has become both food and medicine in many parts of the world This review presents comprehensive analyzed information on the botanical, chemical and pharmacological aspects of C tinctorius

Phytochemistry, pharmacology and medicinal properties of Carthamus tinctorius L.

Hepatoprotective effects of kaempferol 3-O-rutinoside and kaempferol 3-O-glucoside from Carthamus tinctorius L. on CCl4-induced oxidative liver injury in mice

Background Safflower is a multiple purpose crop generally grown for oil production. The safflower oil is considered to be a better oil since it contains higher amount of oleic and linoleic acids than other oil seed crops. Safflower oil has numerous applications in food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and feed industry. An added advantage of safflower oil is lower cost of production thus can become an alternate option for those who cannot afford to buy olive and other functional oils. Scope and approach This manuscript provides a comprehensive review on critical aspects of pharmacological and nutritional applications of safflower oil. A higher antioxidant activity renders better stability of safflower seed oil over extended storage period. Moreover, a higher content of omega six fatty acids makes it a healthier choice for consumption especially where olive oil being the only but costly choice. There has been a surge in developing innovative and efficient methods to extract safflower oil including super critical fluid and enzymatic extraction techniques. Key findings and conclusions A higher stability index makes it possible to encapsulate safflower oil or used it as a carrier in bioactive functional ingredient delivery systems. The functional properties of safflower oil can be used to treat skin infections, bone related disorders, menopause and atherosclerosis. Composition and distribution of phenolic contents of safflower oil has not been explored to its full potential. There is a need to conduct exclusive research on exploring the role of phenolic compounds in food and pharma industrial applications.

A comprehensive characterisation of safflower oil for its potential applications as a bioactive food ingredient - A review

Carthamus red from Carthamus tinctorius L. exerts antioxidant and hepatoprotective effect against CCl4-induced liver damage in rats via the Nrf2 pathway

Background: The present investigation evaluates the hepatoprotective and in vitro antioxidant effect of methanolic extract and its isolated constituent, dehydroabietylamine, in Carthamus tinctorious L, var Annigeri-2-, an oil yielding crop. Materials and Methods: The hepatoprotective effects were estimated for the parameters viz, total bilirubin, total protein, serum alanine amino transaminase (ALT) and serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and along with the pathological findings of hepatotoxicity. The in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated by using free radical scavenging assays: DPPH, nitric oxide radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical, reducing power, ferrous ion chelating ability and total antioxidant capacity. Results: Both the methanolic extract (at 150 and 300 mg/kg bw) and dehydroabietylamine (at 50 mg/kg bw) showed significant liver protection against CCl 4 -induced liver damage that was comparable with the standard drug, silymarin (100 mg/kg bw), in reducing the elevated serum enzyme markers. The liver sections of the animals treated with dehydroabietylamine elicit a significant liver protection compared with the methanolic extract against CCl 4 -induced liver damage. Further, both the methanolic extract and dehydroabietylamine exhibited a considerable and dose-dependent scavenging activity of DPPH, nitric oxide and hydroxyl radical. Similarly, in the reducing power assay, the results were very persuasive. In addition, the Fe 2+ chelating activity and the total antioxidant assay established the antioxidant property of the methanolic extract and its isolated constituent. Among the two experimental samples, dehydroabietylamine proved to be more effective for the said parameters. Conclusion: The potent antioxidant and its correlative hepatoprotective activity of the methanolic extract and isolated constituent dehydroabietylamine is therefore attributed to its antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities.

Hepatoprotective and in vitro antioxidant effect of Carthamus tinctorious L, var Annigeri-2-, an oil-yielding crop, against CCl(4) -induced liver injury in rats.

Yelegara S Ravi Kumar

Papers

Hepatoprotective and in vitro antioxidant effect of Carthamus tinctorious L, var Annigeri-2-, an oil-yielding crop, against CCl(4) -induced liver injury in rats.