Anti-inflammatory effects of different parts of Algerian caper (Capparis spinosa) on animal models

Capparis spinosa L. is a Mediterranean shrub widely used in traditional herbal medicine. This medicinal plant possesses several biological activities such as antioxidant, hepatoprotective and immunomodulatory effects. The present study aims to assess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Algerian C. spinosa methanolic extracts from leaves (LME), stems (SME) and fruits (FME). Determination of total polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins was carried out using colorimetric methods. Antioxidant properties were evaluated using free radical scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS, reducing power and β-carotene/linoleic acid tests. The Anti-inflammatory activity was assessed using carrageenan induced paw edema (CIPE), xylene (XIEE) and croton oil-induced ear edema (CIEE) models. The results showed that LME contains the highest concentrations of polyphenols, flavonoids and tannins. This extract also showed the highest reducing power (EC50= 32.83 ± 0.57 μg/ml), and scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS radicals (IC50 = 30.51 ± 1.86 μg/ml and 11.93± 0.08 μg/ml, respectively), whilst the preventing of β-carotene bleaching was strong and similar for the three studied extracts. Unlike stem, both leaf and fruit exerted anti-edematous effect on all studied models. In conclusion, these results confirmed that C. spinosa parts possess different antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects related to their content in polyphenol and/or flavonoid contents, and justify the wide traditional use of this plant. Extracts of C. spinosa can serve as a good source of phytoconstituents used as drugs to treat inflammatory illness.