Phytochemical Compounds, Acute Toxicity, Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities of Thymus leptobotrys Murb Essential Oil.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the acute toxicity and anti-inflammatory effect in vivo, as well as the antioxidant activity, of the essential oil of . The results indicate that the tested essential oil is non-toxic, with an estimated LD50 of 2500 mg kg of mice body weight. The anti-inflammatory test revealed that, at a dose of 200 mg kg, the essential oil reduced rat paw edemas by 89.59% within 3 h of oral administration, this reduction in edema size was greater than that obtained with indomethacin (75.78%). The antioxidant activity (IC50) of essential oil was 346.896 µg mL and 861.136 mg Trolox equivalent/g essential oil in the 2.2-diphenyl1-picryl-hydrazyl radical scavenging capacity (DPPH) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assays, respectively. The toxicity test reveals an LD greater than 2500 mg kg of body weight of mice which classifies it within category 5 of non-toxic substances that can be administered orally. These results suggest that the essential oil of is not toxic, and it represents a valuable source of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant metabolites.