Chemical composition analysis, antioxidant, antiglycating activities and neuroprotective effects of S. choloroleuca, S. mirzayanii and S. santolinifolia from Iran.

This study was designed to examine antioxidant activities, antiglycating abilities and neuroprotective effects of methanolic extracts of Salvia choloroleuca, Salvia santolinifolia and Salvia mirzayanii from Iran. The extracts were screened for their possible antioxidant activities by several biochemical assays such as DPPH, FRAP, β-carotene bleaching and TEAC assays. HPLC analysis of these extracts led to the separation of a number of components such as catechine and rosmarinic acid. Based on our results, all these plants had antioxidant and antiglycating activities, among them S. choloroleuca seems to be the most effective one. Furthermore, these species not only showed no cytotoxic effects in neuron-like PC12 cells, but also protected them against oxidative stress-induced cell death, exerted by H(2)O(2). We further showed that these plants increase superoxide dismutase and catalase levels, reduce lipid peroxidation and up regulate hemeoxygenase-1 and glutamylcysteine synthetase proteins. This study raised the possibility of developing these plants as potential neuroprotective agents.