Abstract

Moringa oleifera and Thymus vulgaris are well known and widely used herbs, which contains several interesting bioactive constituents and possesses health promoting properties. The aim of the present study is to evaluate and compare thein vitro anti-inflammatory effects of ethanol extracts of Moringa oleifera and Thymus vulgaris and a 1:1 blend of the two extracts against the denaturation of proteins. The test extracts and the reference drug of varying concentrations were incubated with egg albumin under controlled experimental conditions and subjected to determination of absorbance to assess the anti-inflammatory property. A standard anti-inflammatory drug, Ibuprofen, was used as reference drug. The results obtained showed a concentration-dependent inhibition of protein (albumin) denaturation by both extracts, including the 1:1 blend of the extractsas well as the reference drug. The extract concentrationas well as the reference drugfor 50% inhibition (EC50) was determined by the dose-response curve using GraphPad Prism 6.01 software package and were as follows: Moringa oleifera (EC50 = 215.9±29.8 μg/mL); Thymus vulgaris (EC50 = 144.9±1.1 μg/mL); the extracts blend (EC50 = 441.6±8.6 μg/mL) and ibuprofen (EC50 = 1599±337 μg/mL), respectively. These findings showed that both Moringa oleifera and Thymus vulgaris possessed marked in vitro anti-inflammatory effect against the denaturation of protein when compared with the standard anti-inflammatory drug, ibuprofen. Thymus vulgaris extractwas found to be more active than Moringa oleifera, possibly due to the higher flavonoids and/or organic acid contents.