Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activities of Cynaroside from Elsholtiza bodinieri

The flavonoid fraction was obtained from Elsholtiza bodinieri Vaniot (EBV) by ethanol-reflux and liquid-liquid extraction. The total content of flavonoid was 179.55 mg/g, and the purity was 64.6%. Then cynaroside with the purity of 94% was isolated from the fraction by preparative HPLC and characterized by the combined usage of HPLC, ESI-MS, and NMR. The antioxidant activity of cynaroside was determined using 2 complementary methods, namely, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and reducing power assay. The anti-inflammatory effect of cynaroside was investigated based on in-vitro and in-vivo experiment. The results showed that cynaroside from EBV scavenged DPPH radical and reduced Fe3+ to Fe2+ effectively, inhibited NO and ROS production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells and attenuated the inflammation in the mouse model significantly (p < 0.01), which showed it to be a nutraceutical product in the food industry.