Sideritis perfoliata L. subsp. perfoliata is a plant widely used in folk
medicine in Greece since antiquity because of its antiinflammatory,
antirheumatic, antiulcer, digestive and vasoprotective properties.
Phytochemical investigations of the polar extracts afforded four
flavonoid glycosides, four phenylpropanoic glycosides, caffeic acid and
one iridoid, ajugoside. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are implicated in
the aetiology of several inflammatory processes. In the present study
polar fractions and isolated compounds from S. perfoliata subsp.
perfoliata were evaluated for their antioxidant activity using DPPH
spectrophotometric and TBA lipid peroxidation assays, as well as for
their antiinflammatory activity using the soybean lipoxygenase bioassay.
All extracts and isolated compounds showed significant antioxidant and
inhibitory activity against soybean lipoxygenase. These findings give
support to the ethnopharmacological use of the plant in the treatment of
several inflammatory ailments. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd