Lífvirkni og örveruhemjandi áhrif blóðbergs

Abstract

Í þúsundir ára hafa plöntur verið notaðar sem fæða og lyf auk þess að hafa gegnt mikilvægu hlutverki í bættri heilsu og auknum lífsgæðum manna. Þær hafa einnig nýst sem orkugjafi og krydd ásamt því að vera nýttar í drykki, snyrtivörur og litarefni. Aukið ónæmi örvera gegn sýklalyfjum sem nú eru notuð kallar á brýna þörf fyrir þróun nýrra, skilvirkari lyfja. Vegna líffræðilegra eiginleika plantna eru þær einstakar og endurnýjanleg uppspretta fyrir uppgötvun nýrra bakteríu- og sveppahamlandi lyfja. Blóðberg (Thymus praecox) er jurt sem vex um land allt. Í jurtinni má finna ýmis virk efni, svo sem ilmkjarnaolíur, flavoníða, fenólsýrur, barksýrur og kvoðunga. Fenólarnir týmól og karvakról finnast í m.a. blóðbergi og eru þekktir fyrir örveruhamlandi virkni auk þess eru þeir sagðir bólgueyðandi og með háa andoxunarvirkni.Markmið verkefnisins var að skoða hvort blóðberg hafi örveruhemjandi áhrif gegn þekktum mannasýklum auk þess að mæla andoxunarvirkni og bólguhamlandi virkni þess. Lífvirkni blóðbergsins var dregin út með þremur mismunandi leysum við fjóra mismunandi styrki af blóðbergi. Örveruhamlandi virkni blóðbergs extrakta var skoðuð með tveimur aðferðum, rákastrikunaraðferð (e. streak assay) og skífuprófi (e. disk diffusion). Andoxunarvirkni var mæld með 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) aðferð og bólguhamlandi virkni skoðuð með því að mæla hindrun á eðlissviptingu próteins. Að auki var efnagreining gerð með þunnlagsgreiningu (e. thin layer chromatography) til þess að staðfesta viðurvist týmóls (e. thymol) í extöktunum. Niðurstöður verkefnisins sýndu að andoxunarvirkni extraktana samkvæmt DPPH aðferð var skilvirkari við hærri styrk blóðbergs og mesta virknin var með metanól extrakti. Bólguhamlandi virkni mældist mjög há í hærri styrk blóðbergs en hæsta virknin var með extrakti sem útbúið var með soðnu vatni. Þunnlagsgreiningin sýndi fram á viðurvist týmóls í tveimur extröktum af fjórum við styrkinn 100 mg/mL. Örveruhamlandi prófanir sýndu að extröktin höfðu engin áhrif á vöxt örverustofna.

For thousands of years plants have been used for nutrition and medicine and have therefore played a significant role in improved health and higher quality of life in general. Plants have been a source for energy and spice as well as being used in drinks, cosmetics and pigments.Increase in immunity in microorganisms for modern antibiotics calls for innovation in the development of more effective drugs. Because of their biological qualities, plants are a renewable source for discoveries of new bacteria and fungus constraining drugs. Thymus praecox is a plant that can be found all around Iceland. Many bioactive substance can be found in the plant, such as essential oil, flavonoids, phenols, tannins and resins. Thymol and carvacrol are phenols found in the plant and are known for their antimicrobial activity and that they are anti-inflammatory and high in antioxidants. The goal of this project is to examine whether Thymus praecox extracts shows antimicrobial activity against known common human pathogens as well as to measure antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory activity in the plant extracts. The bioactivity of the extracts was found with three different solvents run with four different concentration of the Thymus praecox. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was examined with two different methods. A streak assay and a disk diffusion assay. The antioxidant activity was measured with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH method) and the anti-inflammatory activities was examined by using protein denaturation assay. In addition, a chemical analysis was performed with thin layer chromatography (TLC) to confirm the presence of thymol in the extracts.The results showed that the antioxidants activity of the extracts with the DPPH method was more effective at higher concentration of the extracts and the highest activity was achieved with a methanol extraction. Anti-inflammatory activity was measured at a high value in higher concentrations of the extracts but the highest activity was measured with an extract performed with boiled water. TLC demonstrated the presence of thymol in two of the four extracts at the concentration of 100 mg/mL. Tests for antimicrobial activity showed that the extracts had no effect on the growth of the microbial populations.