Investigation of antioxidant activity of ethanolic extract of the bark of Caesalpinia ferrea in Swiss mice exposed to paracetamol

Aims: it was evaluated the antioxidant effect of the ethanolic extract of Caesalpinia ferrea bark in a model of oxidative stress induced by paracetamol (PCM). Methods: male Swiss mice were subdivided into four groups (control; PCM; PCM+extract; extract; n=8) in which a dose of paracetamol (250 mg.kg-1) was administered and after 3 hours the treatment with the extract (100 mg.kg-1/ day) was administered for seven days, via gavage. Oxidative stress biomarkers were determined, such as catalase, glutathione-S-transferase, reduced glutathione, ascorbic acid, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and carbonylated proteins of liver, kidneys and brain and plasma parameters through the dosage of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase. Results: the Caesalpinia ferrea extract was able to reverse the lipid and protein damage caused by the drug in the liver tissue and caused the same effect in the renal and brain tissues in the carbonylated proteins. The extract alone decreased liver glutathione-S-transferase and increased catalase and brain glutathione-S-transferase activity, in addition to lowering glucose and cholesterol, but without altering the triglycerides. Conclusions: it was possible to conclude that the ethanolic extract of the bark of Caesalpinia ferrea has a good antioxidant activity, probably due to the presence of tannins, in view of the damage caused by the high dose of paracetamol in the samples investigated. However, more studies are needed for a better understanding of the effects of this extract compared to the effects found in this research.