Screening of Eugenol - A Monoterpene, as an antioxidant

Plants are one of the most important sources of medicines. Today the large numbers of drugs in use are derived from plants. There is a strong current public interest in naturally occurring plant based remedies and dietary factors related to health and disease. Eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxy-phenol) is a monoterpene compound pale yellow in color extracted from clove and a member of the allyl-benzene class of chemical compounds. In the current study we have aimed at exploring the antioxidant activity of eugenol in in vivo model along with the analysis of hepatic and cardiac markers analysis. Twenty one adult male Wistar rats, weighing 180- 250g, were randomly divided into three groups; Group 1 treated as normal control rats, Group II kept as vehicle control and Group III was administrated with 5 mg/kg b.wt of eugenol. After 30 days of experimental period the activities of blood antioxidants like Reduced Glutathione (GSH), Glutathione -s- transferases (GST), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and Catalase (CAT) were enhanced in eugenol treated groups along with incomparably low rate of lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide level. These results suggest that the monoterpenoid compound eugenol has the capacity to prevent oxidative damage that probably because of their antioxidant characteristics. So it can be concluded that eugenol is a very promising candidate for the design of new drugs based on its pharmacological effects of antioxidant adequacy.