Lipid Peroxidation and the Redox Effects of Polyherbal

*Kale Oluwafemi Ezekiel*

### **Abstract**

The use of more than one herb in a medicinal preparation also known as polyherbal has increased geometrically in recent times. Over a hundred thousand scientists have cited "herbal" to strengthen its ethnopharmacological relevance in literature. Polyherbal (PH) is effective potential therapeutic compound used globally to treat oxidative stress-induced injuries which give credence for their traditional applications. However, some issues related to safety and adverse reactions due to PH have raised important public health debates. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) assay is widely used to assess the toxic endpoint of PH. This paper discusses some important roles that PH plays during oxidation–reduction processes.

**Keywords:** Polyherbal, Lipid Peroxidation, Oxidative Stress, Antioxidant, Ethnopharmacology

#### **1. Introduction**

Lipid peroxidation (LPO) is one of the oldest risk factors for oxidative stress and its mechanistic processes in disease modulation were first observed during the oxidative deterioration of edible materials [1]. The independent works of scientists in the identification of membrane shedding formed the earliest breakthrough for the study of lipid peroxidation [1, 2]. The biochemistry of oxygenase moiety was a light to the further understanding of the peroxidation of lipids [2]. The central roles play by small lipid molecules, free radicals and cytochrome p450 have been well established [3, 4]. The small lipid molecules are transformed into low-density lipoprotein (LDL). LDL modulations have contributed immensely to the studies on cellular biology. Both enzymatic and non-enzymatic approaches to scavenging LPO have been reported [5]. LPO has its root in several diseases including neurodegeneration, cardiovascular, respiratory, and cancers [2]. Consequently, the chemopreventive and protective roles of several antioxidants with proven efficacies have been documented in the literature. Although the different compounds of antioxidants have been identified, researchers have shown that it is by coordinated efforts that they can quench oxidative damage [6]. Evidence abounds of the involvement of LPO in several diseases and the protective roles of medicinal plant antioxidants [7, 8]. Often time in traditional medicine practices, medicinal compounds that perform a similar function are combined to obtain synergy [9, 10]. Thus, potential antioxidants are capable of preventing, protecting, and eliminating any form of identifiable oxidants [11]. The medicinal effects of functional food have been known for a long time. This observation was the result of preservative, anti-oxidative and antimicrobial actions found in ginger, nutmeg, turmeric, etc. These help arrest, repair,

and restore potential injuries [12]. The scavenging efforts by antioxidants provide auto-inhibition or sometimes intervention to the activity of LPO metabolites [13]. Interestingly, in the case of progressive disease, the presence of combined efforts of antioxidants can offer a cascade of reactions to stop the process involved. Despite the tremendous roles of natural product medicines, some issues related to safety and adverse reactions due to PH have raised important public health debates [14]. Lipid peroxidation assay is one of the simplest methods widely used to assess the toxic endpoint of PH. Thus, this paper discusses some important roles that PH plays during oxidation–reduction processes.
