Acquaviva_2023_Chem.Biodivers__e202300547

Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae Family) is a plant endemic in Asia that has been used by Chinese herbalists for centuries for treating different diseases, including fever due to malaria, wounds, tubercolisis, scabues, pain, convulsions, diabetes, and inflammation. In this study we aimed to evaluate the effects of different polarity extracts from A. annua against the burden of inflammation and oxidative stress occurring in colon tissue exposed to LPS. In parallel, chemical composition, antiradical, and enzyme inhibition effects against alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, tyrosinase, and cholinesterases were evaluated. All extracts revealed effective as antioxidants, enzyme inhibitors, and anti-inflammatory agents, as demonstrated by the blunting effects on COX-2 and TNFalpha gene expression. These effects seemed to be not related to the only phenolic content. However, it is worthy of interest to highlight how the higher potency against LPS-induced gene expression was shown by the water extract ; thus suggesting a potential phytotherapy application in the management of clinical symptoms related to inflammatory colon diseases, although future in vivo studies are needed to confirm such in vitro and ex vivo observations.