30^th European Heart Diseases and Heart Failure Congress

Lycium barbarum (fam. Solanaceae) known as wolfberry or goji, is widely grown in the subtropical areas of the world, in Japan and Coreea, in countries from South-East of Asia and in Europe as well. In the last years, goji berries play an important role in the traditional Chinese medicine and it has attracted much attention due to their diverse biological activities, such as: liver and kidney protector and eyesight enhancer. The aim of this paper is to investigate the cytoprotective effect of an ethanolic extract of wolfberry leaves (Lycium barbarum) against H2O2 induced oxidative damage in L-929 cells. L.barbarum extract was characterized concerning its qualitative chemical composition, total phenol content and antioxidant activity by high performance liquid chromatography, folin-ciocalteu method and DPPH assay. Also, it was investigated whether pretreatment (one hour or 24 hours) with L. barbarum leaves extract had an effect on L-929 mouse fibroblasts cells cytotoxicity induced by H2O2. Data showed the presence of chlorogenic and caffeic acids and a total phenol content of 18.30 mg GAE/g dry material. DPPH method revealed significant antioxidant activity. L. barbarum extract showed a moderate cytotoxic activity. A prolonged pretreatment (24 hours) with L. barbarum extract was able to protect L-929 murine fibroblast cells against H2O2 cytotoxicity. These preliminary findings suggest that Lycium barbarum leaves can be used for the development of dietary supplements.