ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT OF GENISTEIN AGAINST PHARMACOLOGICAL EXPERIMENTAL MODELS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22159/ijpps.2026v18i2.57618Keywords:
Genistein, Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory, Carrageenan, DPPH assay, Phytoestrogen, NutraceuticalAbstract
Objective: Inflammation is a biological response of vascularized tissue to harmful stimuli, including infection, damaged cells, or irritants, and is characterized by a complex, protective, non-specific response. Genistein, derived from soybeans by isoflavonoids of estrogenic and anti-inflammatory activities, recently attracted attention as an attractive drug candidate for the treatment or prevention of rheumatoid arthritis. The present investigation was carried out to explore the pharmacological role of genistein treatment in an experimentally induced inflammatory model with its antioxidant activity.
Methods: The antioxidant capacity was evaluated utilizing the 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay method. The anti-inflammatory activity was also evaluated with the carrageenan-induced paw oedema model in Wistar rats. The research includes a normal group (vehicle control), a control group (carrageenan control), a standard group (celecoxib 50 mg/kg, p. o.), and test groups (T1: genistein 10 mg/kg, p. o., and T2: genistein 20 mg/kg, p. o.). Inflammation in experimental groups (except the normal group) was induced by a single dose injection of 0.1 ml of carrageenan (1% w/v in saline) at the subplantar region of the left hind paw after pretreatment with vehicle or drugs as per protocol. Paw edema was observed at different times after induction.
Results: The genistein showed dose-dependent antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay (inhibition of 83.63% at 100 µg/ml). In vivo, paw edema was inhibited by genistein to an extent comparable with the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Genistein exerted potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities in experimental models, which underlined its use as a nutraceutical for the adjuvant therapy of inflammatory diseases.
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