ABSTRACT
Heat shock protein 70 is a molecular chaperone which expressed during oxidative stress to protect the cell from damage. Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder with an oxidative stress imbalance. Antioxidant defenses appear to be depleted during preeclampsia resulting in increased oxidative stress. Various alternative medicines are employed to increase the endogenous antioxidant level during preeclampsia. The aim of the present study was to determine the modulatory effect of medicinal plants, Camellia sinensis and Mentha spicata on oxidative stress, antioxidant and thiol status using placental explant as the model system. Placental explants were cultured from the placental tissues of both normotensive and preeclamptic subjects. The lipid peroxide, total antioxidant capacity, glutathione redox ratio, HSP70 levels were measured in the placental explants with and without incubation with tea, mint and mint-tea. The addition of these three extracts increased the TAC and GRR in both placental explants with decrease in the LPO level. The expression of HSP70 also decreased more significantly in preeclamptic explants on addition of tea and mint extracts due to the restoration of cell homeostasis via maintaining the antioxidant status. In view of the above results, mint-tea may emerge as an effective antioxidant, preventing cell damage during stress condition.