Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Phytoecdysteroids from Vitex madiensis (Oliv.)

Vitex madiensis Oliv. (Lamiaceae) is a species growing in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. In several African countries, the different organs of this plant, leaves, fruits, stem bark and roots are used in folk medicine for the treatment of headaches, toothaches, aches and pains. In this study, we investigated the phytochemical profile of Vitex madiensis leaf extracts using LC-MS. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of crude extracts, fractions, and pure molecules was evaluated using reactive oxygen species (ROSs) production assays and cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition assays. A bio-guided fractionation was carried out to identify the most active fractions and resulted in the isolation of four phytoecdysteroids from the n-butanol fraction: 20-hydroxyecdysone, ajugasterone C, vitexirone, and pterosterone. 20-hydroxyecdysone showed very good anti-inflammatory properties with a significant reduction of more than 70% of COX-2 expression in induced LPS-stimulated human blood leukocytes compared to the control. This study confirmed the therapeutic potential of phytoecdysteroids.