Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) as a tool for helping with Cancer (anticancer research)

Nowadays, interest in natural antioxidants (especially phenolics) for the prevention of oxidative stress-related diseases is increasing due to their fewer side effects and more potent activity than some of their synthetic analogues. New chemical and pharmacological studies of well-known herbal substances are among the current trends in medicinal plant research. Meadowsweet ( Filipendula ulmaria ) is a popular herb used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases (including rheumatic-, inflammatory- and tumor-related disease, etc.). The dry tincture of Filipendulae ulmariae herba , collected from the Bulgarian flora, was analyzed using the HPLC method and bioassayed for antioxidant, antiproliferative and DNA-protective activities against oxidative damage. The HPLC phenolic profile showed 12 phenolics, of which salicylic acid (18.84 mg/g dry extract), rutin (9.97 mg/g de), p -coumaric acid (6.80 mg/g de), quercetin (4.47 mg/g de), rosmarinic acid (4.01 mg/g de) and vanillic acid (3.82 mg/g de) were the major components. The high antioxidant potential of the species was confirmed by using four methods, best expressed by the results of the CUPRAC assay (10,605.91 μM TE/g de). The present study reports for the first time the highly protective activities of meadowsweet dry tincture against oxidative DNA damage and its antiproliferative effect against hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2 cell line). Meadowsweet dry tincture possesses great potential to prevent diseases caused by oxidative stress.

Purpose To examine the ability of the meadowsweet preparation to inhibit carcinogenesis induced by ionizing radiation in female rats. Materials and methods The chemical composition of meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) raw material (ethanol and aqueous extracts of meadowsweet flowers) has been studied for the presence of flavonoids, tannins and catechins. Adult female LIO strain rats were subjected to a single whole body γ-irradiation at a dose of 4 Gy in animal experiments. One group of irradiated rats served as control while the other group, starting from the 10th day after irradiation and until the end of the experiment, was given meadowsweet as a decoction of the flowers instead of drinking water. The average daily intake of meadowsweet (dry raw material) was 1 g/kg body weight. Rats were observed for 16 months. Results The analyzed meadowsweet extracts showed a sufficiently high content of flavonoids and tannins. In irradiated rats after 16 months the overall incidence of tumors was 79.6% (in 82 of 103 rats), the incidence of malignant tumors was 43.7% and the overall tumor multiplicity was 1.48. Most tumors were localized in the mammary gland - 57.3%. In rats that received meadowsweet, the incidence of all malignant tumors and overall multiplicity of tumors were significantly decreased by 1.5 and 1.3 times, respectively. The greatest reduction of many parameters has been identified for breast tumors: the overall incidence was decreased by 1.5 (p = 0.0174) and the overall multiplicity and multiplicity of malignant tumors - by 1.6 (p = 0.0002) and 2.2 (p = 0.0383) times, respectively. Conclusions Meadowsweet preparation showed inhibiting activity on radiation carcinogenesis.