Potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action of Hypericum hookerianum extracts in a liposome system evaluated with zebrafish embryos

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of liposomal formulations enriched with Hypericum hookerianum (Hyp) aqueous extracts. Cotyledon segments derived from protocorms of H. hookerianum were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with Kinetin (KN, 1 mgl⁻¹) and Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA, 0.1 mgl⁻¹) to induce hypericin-rich red shoots (HypR, 0.87 mg/G DW). Highly stable liposomes (−29.4 mV) were successfully developed which encapsulated 63 ± 0.8% Hyp extracts, respectively. MTT assay subsequently confirmed the biocompatibility of liposome compositions using fibroblast cell lines. This work also evaluated acute toxicity of L-HypR and L-HypG formulations using Danio rerio (Zebrafish) embryos for 96 hpf. The expression of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory genes were found to be upregulated for L-HypR than L-HypG (green shoots without hypericin) formulations. These properties of L-HypR may be extremely useful for incorporating lipophilic substances into the food or pharmaceutical industry.

Keywords:

• Liposome
• hypericin
• Hypericum hookerianum
• embryo toxicity
• biocompatible

Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to the Management, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology for providing necessary facilities to carry out this research work.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no declarations of interest.