Effect of intraoral antioxidative capacity in orengedokuto

Aim: The aim of this study is to clarify the antioxidative effects of orengedokuto (OGT) and its crude drug components in the human oral cavity. Method: In healthy subjects, the amount of change between the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) value of saliva when gargled with water or with Kampo extract was compared to verify the antioxidant capacity of Kampo extract (OGT and excluding each single constituent in OGT) in the oral cavity. Moreover, the superoxide radical in this Kampo extract was measured by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry to determine its inherent antioxidative capacity. Results: In this protocol using saliva, the antioxidative capacity of OGT extract was dose-dependent. The OGT extract showed a significantly higher antioxidative capacity compared to the byakkokaninjinto extract, and the effect was almost equivalent to that of the green tea extract. In the comparison of excluding each single crude drug from OGT, excluding the Scutellaria Root extract showed the lowest antioxidative capacity. In the comparison of crude drug constituting of OGT, the Scutellaria Root extract showed the highest antioxidant ability. These results showed very similar behavior to the superoxide scavenging activity of Kampo extract itself measured by ESR. Conclusion: This almost noninvasive test method can easily evaluate the intraoral antioxidative capacity and was effective in verifying the antioxidative capacity of Kampo medicines. In OGT, Scutellaria Root made a significant contribution in the antioxidative capacity of the crude drug extract itself in vitro and the intraoral antioxidative capacity in vivo.