New Insights into the Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Effects of Italian <i>Salvia officinalis</i> Leaf and Flower Extracts in Lipopolysaccharide and Tumor-Mediated Inflammation Models

• Main Authors: Matteo Brindisi, Chouaha Bouzidi, Luca Frattaruolo, Monica R. Loizzo, Maria Stella Cappello, Annabelle Dugay, Brigitte Deguin, Graziantonio Lauria, Anna Rita Cappello, Rosa Tundis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: Antioxidants
• Subjects: sage; HPLC-DAD-ESI-Q-MS; anti-inflammatory activity; antioxidant effects; cancer cell-conditioned media
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/10/2/311

This work aimed to investigate and compare the in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of <i>Salvia officinalis</i> L. (sage) from Italy, with the aim of raising its current knowledge in this field. Leaves and flowers (S1–S8), harvested in two areas of Southern Italy, were extracted with methanol as a solvent by maceration or ultrasound-assisted extraction. Sage extracts, analysed by high pressure liquid chromatography-diode-array detection-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-mass spectroscopy (HPLC-DAD-ESI-Q-MS), exerted a promising antioxidant activity investigated using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), and β-carotene bleaching tests, and elicited a significant decrease in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages. The anti-inflammatory activity was analysed in the same in vitro model. All the extracts did not affect cell viability although they showed anti-inflammatory activity, as they induced a decrease in nitrite levels that was greater than 50%, when employed at 50 µg/mL. Furthermore, they elicited<b> </b>a decrease in nitrite levels, as well as a decline in pro-inflammatory cytokine expression. The NF-κB transcription factor proved to be involved in the mechanisms that underlie such effects. Interestingly, sage extracts were able to interfere with the inflammatory activity induced by breast cancer cell-conditioned media (nitrite levels were significantly decreased, p < 0.05; p < 0.01), highlighting for the first time the important role of <i>S. officinalis</i> in controlling inflammation processes related to neoplastic progression.