For decades, new compounds from plants have been used to treat inflammation and helminthiasis. Eleven plant species were selected based on their use in traditional medicine against inflammation in southern Africa. The crude extracts, fractions and compounds were tested for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anthelmintic activities. The antioxidant activity was determined using radical scavenging DPPH and electron reducing ABTS assays. The anti-inflammatory activity of crude extracts was evaluated via the 15-lipoxygenase inhibitory assay and the nitric oxide (NO) inhibition assay using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages. The anthelmintic activity was determined against the nematode helminth Haemonchus contortus using the egg hatch assay (EHA) and larval development assay (LDA). Fractions and a compound (isorhamnetin-3-3-O-β-D-glucoside) isolated from Typha capensis were also tested. The acetone extract of T. capensis exhibited the highest antioxidant (ABTS) activity with an IC50 value of 0.6 µg/mL. The hexane extract had good 15-lipoxygenase inhibitory effect with an IC50 value of 4.62 µg/mL which was significantly (p˂0.05) higher than that of quercetin (IC50 of 26.60 µg/mL). It also had strong NO inhibition (86.10%) and cell viability (96.58%) at 100 µg/mL. The butanol fraction had very good antioxidant activity (IC50 = 0.26 µg/mL), NO inhibition (94.60%) and cell viability (94.75%) at 100 µg/mL. However the isolated compound had poor antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. In addition, the acetone crude extract (IC50 = 13.87 µg/mL), and butanol fractions (IC50 = 24.01 µg/mL) from T. capensis were the most efficient against Haemonchus contortus. This study revealed that T. capensis had good antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anthelmintic activity against Haemonchus contortus. This plant is therefore a potential source of compounds that could be used against inflammation and diseases where inflammation is commonly implicated, such as helminthiasis.
Acknowledgements: The National Research Foundation (NRF) and the University of Pretoria Doctoral Research Support funded this project.