Teucrium pseudochamaepitys L.: chemical composition, acute toxicity, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties

Most of the species of the Teucrium genus are known for their strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities due to their richness in phenolic compounds. Thus, one species of the Teucrium genus belonging to the Lamiaceae family named Teucrium pseudochamaepitys L. was chosen in this study. The main objective of this study was to establish the pharmacological properties of T . pseudochamaepitys L. aqueous decoctions using both in vitro and in vivo experiments. This research represents the first attempt to validate the medicinal effects of this plant. The chemical composition was determined using SPE LC-MS/MS analysis, revealing the presence of flavonoids and phenolic acids. The biological activity and chemical composition of the aqueous extract of T. pseudochamaepitys (TpAE) were investigated for the first time. Scavenging of DPPH · , ABTS ·+ , reducing power, and phenanthroline assays was employed in order to measure the antioxidant activity of TpAE. The results showed that TpAE exhibited significant antioxidant activity, with the best performance of the phenanthroline method. In order to evaluate in vitro anti-inflammatory effect, the inhibition of albumin denaturation by TpAE was investigated. TpAE confers high potential anti-inflammatory activity with a percentage of inhibition very close to that of the reference diclofenac. Acute toxicity, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic activities were performed in order to investigate in vivo biological activity of TpAE. Oral administration of TpAE at a single dose of 2000 mg/kg did not cause any symptoms of intoxication in all treated animals. On the other hand, the oral administration of TpAE at different concentrations inhibits the development of paw edema and produces significant inhibition in acetic acid-induced writhing test. Our study revealed that TpAE is not toxic but contains bioactive compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic activity. Graphical abstract