In Vitro Antioxidant Potential of Baccharis trimera and Baccharis articulata Infusions in Postmenopausal Women

Considering that postmenopausal women generally have high levels of oxidative markers and low levels of antioxidant defense markers due to the reduction of estrogen levels, and because of the vast popular use of several species of carja in the form of infusion, this study aimed to evaluate in vitro if infusions of B. trimera and B. articulata have antioxidant potential in erythrocytes of postmenopausal women and which are the most effective. The erythrocytes from 40 postmenopausal women were treated in vitro for 1 hour with infusions of B. trimera and B. articulata at the following concentrations: 4, 8, 16, 33, 66 g/L. The negative control consisted of erythrocytes from postmenopausal women without treatment with the plants. After treatment, the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), carbonylated proteins (CP), and reduced glutathione (GSH) were measured. The infusions of B. trimera and B. articulata at concentrations of 33 (p<0.001) and 66 g/L (p<0.001) reduced the level of TBARS in comparison to the negative control, and the effect size (ES) for this reduction was small. The levels of GSH increased after treating with B. trimera infusion at a concentration of 66 (p<0.001) and with B. articulata at concentrations of 33 (p<0.001) and 66 g/L (p<0.001), when compared with the negative control, and the ES for this increase was average. The infusions of B. trimera and B. articulata show antioxidant potential in vitro, thus showing a similar effect with regards to the reduction of oxidative damage to lipids and increased endogenous antioxidant protection.