Evaluation of Azadirachta indica leaf fractions for in vitro antioxidant potential and protective effects against H2O2-induced oxidative damage to pBR322 DNA and red blood cells.

We evaluated the protective effects of subfractions of the ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) and the methanolic fraction (MF) from the crude ethanolic extract (CEE) of Azadirachta indica A. Juss (neem) leaves against various free radicals and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative damage to red blood cells (RBCs) and pBR322 DNA. Neem leaf fractions reduced DPPH(*), ABTS(*+), superoxide (O(*-)), hydroxyl (OH(*)), and nitric oxide radicals to nonradical forms in a concentration-dependent manner. Treatment with the benzene insoluble fraction from EAF (EBIF), the chloroform insoluble fraction from EAF (ECIF), the chloroform insoluble fraction from MF (MCIF), and the ethyl acetate insoluble fraction from MF (MEIF) significantly mitigated H2O2-induced oxidative damage to RBCs and pBR322 DNA. Although we found low in vitro free radical scavenging activity for the benzene insoluble fraction from EAF (EBSF), the chloroform soluble fraction from EAF (ECSF), the chloroform soluble fraction from MF (MCSF), and the ethyl acetate soluble fraction from MF (MESF), these fractions showed no effect on H2O2-induced lipid peroxidation and pBR322 DNA damage. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and TLC-Iatroscan analysis revealed that the greater efficacy of EBIF, ECIF, MCIF, and MEIF may be due to the presence of more polar compounds such as nimbolide and quercetin. Our studies suggest that the antioxidant and protective effects of active neem leaf fractions against H2O2-induced lipid peroxidation and pBR322 DNA damage can be attributed to their ability to inhibit various free radicals.