Abstract
Extracts of celery (Apium graveolens. L.; Apiaceae) leaves prepared in solvents of different polarity, viz., ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n.-butanol, and water, were used to study their antipyretic effect in mice. Experiments were conducted on white laboratory mice divided into five groups. On the first day of the experiment, their rectal temperatures were measured every 30 min during 5 h (basal temperature). On the second day, the animals were given 12% yeast suspension to induce a pyrogenic effect and on the third day the same dose of yeast and the appropriate celery extract, and the rectal temperatures were measured in the same way as basal temperature. By plotting the measured temperatures versus time, the corresponding areas-under-the-curve (AUC) were obtained for each group of animals. The AUC values were used to determine statistically significant differences between them. The results showed that extracts of celery leaf decreased (annuled) the pyrogenic effect of 12% yeast suspension.
Introduction
Celery (Apium graveolens. L.) is a plant from the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae). Its root, fresh leaves, and seeds are used as food, spice, and in folk medicine. From ancient times, it has been known as an aphrodisiac, and investigations have shown the presence of androsterone (Bremness, Citation1994).
Beneficial effects of celery are ascribed to the presence of secondary biomolecules from the classes of essential oils, the principal components of which are d.-limonene and selinene, and flavonoids, of which apigenin prevails.
Recent investigations (Tucakov, Citation1990; Wichtl, Citation1994) showed that, in addition to diuretic and carminative activities, essential oils from celery exhibit also spasmolytic and sedative activities, which opens new possibitilities of using celery in modern phytotherapy. However, celery can cause photodermatitis and contact dermatititis. Larger amounts of essential oils can cause sedation and irritation and can be responsible for antispasmolytic activity (Newall et al., Citation1996). Zhang et al. (Citation1999) found that active substances from celery have a protective effect in case of cerebral ischemia.
It has been reported that a number of compounds from celery seeds show anti-inflamatory and analgesic actions (Lewis et al., Citation1985; Atta & Alkofahi, Citation1998). Teng (Citation1985) found that apigenin exhibits an antiaggregation effect in vitro.. Besides, it has been shown that myristin acts as an anticarcinogenic substance (Steinmetz & Potter, Citation1991; Zheng et al., Citation1993). This compound induces increased activity of glutathione S.-transferase, which catalyzes the glutathione reaction with electrophiles (activated by carcinogens), yielding less toxic conjugates that are immediately eliminated via excretion.
Active components of celery seed contained in its methanol extract exhibit nematocidal, fungicidal, and mosquitocidal activities (Momin & Nair, Citation2001).
In view of the variety of the effects exibited by active components from celery, it was of interest to examine whether they might have an antipyretic effect. For this purpose, we prepared celery leaf extracts in various solvents and examined their antipyretic action in mice pretreated with 12% yeast suspension.
Materials and Methods
Celery was grown in garden conditions in Ruma (Serbia) in 2002 and leaves, collected in the autumn, were dried in the well-aerated shade to preserve its natural color. An amount of 50 g ground material was soaked (cold extraction) for 24 h in 70% methanol. After that, the macerate was filtered and the procedure repeated two times more. The methanol extract was evaporated in a rotary evaporator, the residue being aqueous extract. The residue extract was then extracted with ether (Et2O), chloroform (CHCl3), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and n.-butanol (n.-BuOH). The obtained extracts were evaporated to dryness and their solutions in 50% ethanol (stock solution) were used in the experiment.
Antipyretic action of these extracts was studied on white laboratory mice (type BALB/C, body weight 30–50 g) divided into five groups, with five animals in each group. The animals had free access to food and water.
During the first day of the experiment, rectal temperature of the animals was measured every 30 min during 5 h, to obtain basal temperature. On the second day, animals were given 12% of aqueous yeast suspension (1 mL/kg, s.c.) and, 2 h after that, temperature was measured every 30 min during 5 h. On the third day, animals received 10% celery extract (1 mL/kg, i.p.): Et2O (group I), CHCl3 (group II), EtOAc (group III), n.-BuOH (group IV), and H2O (group V), two doses with a 2-h interval. Two hours after the last dose, the animals were given 12% yeast suspension (1 mL/kg, s.c.) and at the same time the corresponding celery extract (1 mL/kg, i.p.): Et2O (group I), CHCl3 (group II), EtOAc (group III), n.-BuOH (group IV), and H2O (group V), and temperatures were measured every 30 min during the subsequent 5 h.
Rectal temperatures of animals were measured with the aid of a thermometer.
The graphs obtained by plotting the measured temperatures as a function of time served to calculate the values of the area-under-the curve (AUC) that were used to determine statistical significance of difference between particular treatments.
Results
In are presented the corresponding graphs showing time dependence of basal temperatures and temperatures after administering 12% yeast suspension and after combined treatment with yeast suspension and the corresponding celery extract.
Figure 1 (a) Changes of rectal temperature in mice with time after administering 12% yeast suspension and Et2O celery extract. (b) Correlation of temperature and time.
Figure 2 (a) Changes of rectal temperature in mice with time after administering 12% yeast suspension and CHCl3 celery extract. (b) Correlation of temperature and time.
Figure 3 (a) Changes of rectal temperature in mice with time after administering 12% yeast suspension and EtOAc celery extract. (b) Correlation of temperature and time.
Figure 4 (a) Changes of rectal temperature in mice with time after administering 12% yeast suspension and n.-BuOH celery extract. (b) Correlation of temperature and time.
Figure 5 (a) Changes of rectal temperature in mice with time after administering 12% yeast suspension and H2O celery extract. (b) Correlation of temperature and time.
illustrates the antipyretic effect of the Et2O extract. As can be seen, 2.5 h after administering yeast suspension, the temperature shows an increase with respect to the backgrond value (which shows only a small fluctuation). Due to the pyrogenic effect of yeast, the difference is statistically significant (t = 6.24; p < 0.01).
Chloroform extract caused a statistically significant decrease (t = 6.28; p < 0.01) of the pyretic effect of yeast. As can be seen from , 2.5 h after administering yeast suspension, temperature decreased even below the background value.
Celery extract in ethyl acetate produced a statistically significant decrease (t = 6.90; p < 0.01) of the pyretic effect of yeast (). However, shows that the temperature did not fall below the background value (r = 0.63; y. = 34.57 – 0.19x.).
The application of n.-butanol extract counteracted effectively the pyretic effect of yeast (t = 7.09; p < 0.01) ().
In are shown the changes in rectal temperature of mice after administering yeast suspension and aqueous extract of celery leaf. As can be seen from , the values of measured background temperature showed significant fluctations. The AUC value obtained after administering aquesous extract is close to the AUC value obtained for the basal temperature (168.8 vs. 168.4), whereas they differ significantly from the AUC value obtained after administering 12% yeast suspension (t = 5.78; p < 0.01).
Discussion
On the basis of the above results obtained by studying the antipyretic effect of various extracts (Et2O, CHCl3, EtOAc, n.-BuOH, and H2O), it can be concluded that all the extracts caused a statistically significant decrease of the pyrogenic action of 12% yeast suspension. Generally, the effects attained with all extracts were rather close to each other. However, it was most pronounced in the case of n.-BuOH extract (t = 7.09; p < 0.01), followed by EtOAc, CHCl3, Et2O, and H2O. Like parsley, celery is a natural source of methoxsalene, which potentiates the hypnotic effect of pentobarbital in mice by lowering the content of Cyt P450 and influences analgesic action of paracetamol (Jakovljević et al., Citation2002). Probably, methoxsalen is also responsible for the effects observed in this experiment.
Acknowledgment
This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Science, and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia (project no. 1862).
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