Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activity of Extracts of Ferula heuffeliiGriseb. ex Heuff. and Its Metabolites

Abstract

The antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of isolates (CHCl3 and MeOH extracts and selected metabolites) obtained from the underground parts of the Balkan endemic plant Ferula heuffelii Griseb. ex Heuff. were assessed. The CHCl3 and MeOH extracts exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity, being more pronounced against Gram-positive than Gram-negative bacteria, especially against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC=12.5 μg/ml for both extracts) and Micrococcus luteus (MIC=50 and 12.5 μg/ml, resp.). Among the tested metabolites, (6E)-1-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,7,11-trimethyl-3-vinyldodeca-6,10-dien-1-one (2) and (2S*,3R*)-2-[(3E)-4,8-dimethylnona-3,7-dien-1-yl]-2,3-dihydro-7-hydroxy-2,3-dimethylfuro[3,2-c]coumarin (4) demonstrated the best antimicrobial activity. Compounds 2 and 4 both strongly inhibited the growth of M. luteus (MIC=11.2 and 5.2 μM, resp.) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (MIC=22.5 and 10.5 μM, resp.) and compound 2 additionally also the growth of Bacillus subtilis (MIC=11.2 μM). The cytotoxic activity of the isolates was tested against three human cancer cell lines, viz., cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa), chronic myelogenous leukemia (K562), and breast cancer (MCF-7) cells. The CHCl3 extract exhibited strong cytotoxic activity against all cell lines (IC50 <11.0 μg/ml). All compounds strongly inhibited the growth of the K562 and HeLa cell lines. Compound 4 exhibited also a strong activity against the MCF-7 cell line, comparable to that of cisplatin (IC50 =22.32±1.32 vs. 18.67±0.75μM).

Antimicrobial Effects of Ferula persica Gum Extract and Gold Nanoparticles on Pseudomonas aeruginosa

“…Micrococcus luteus had the MIC of 50 (MeOH) and 12.5 µg/mL (CHCl 3 ). In P. aeruginosa, the two extracts showed MIC > 100, indicating poor anti-Pseudomonas activity, which was similar to our findings (9). In the present study, the mean MIC of 69.25 ± 42.36 mg/mL and the MBC of 102.25 ± 16.76 mg/mL were observed for F. persica gum extract against P. aeruginosa.…”

“…Pavlovic et al (9) studied the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of Ferula heuffelii griseb extracts. They reported that the MeOH and CHCl 3 extracts of the root of F. heuffelii possessed moderate antimicrobial property, mostly against gram-positive rather than gram-negative bacteria.…”

“…In folk medicine, the roots of F. persica are used in the treatment of diabetes (8). Moreover, the anti-microbial activity of Ferula extract has been also reported (9). Furthermore, nanoparticles have distinctive physicochemical properties (10), such as antimicrobial activity (11).…”

BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF Ferula rutbaensis MEDICINAL PLANT IN IRAQI WESTERN DESERT

“…However, more than 175 species belong to this widely distributed genus across Asia and the Mediterranean (Zhou et al, 2017;Mohammadhosseini et al, 2019). The genus members had proven numerous remedial properties making them eligible for treating many epidemics and diseases for centuries (Pavlovic et al, 2015;Nguir et al, 2016;Bagheri et al, 2017;Upadhyay et al, 2017). In addition to the pungent odor, most Ferula members are being characterized as gum-resin producers.…”

Spasmolytic, Gastroprotective and Antioxidant Activities of Dry Methanol Extract of Ferula heuffelii Underground Parts

“…ex Heuffel is an endemic plant, which can be found in Eastern Serbia, Western Bulgaria and Southwestern Romania [26] . Previously, for the essential oil, and dry chloroform (CHCl 3 ) and methanol (MeOH) extracts of the underground parts of this plant, different pharmacological activities were demonstrated in vitro [27−29] . Essential oil, which dominant constituents were elemicin and myristicin, showed spasmolytic, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities [27] .…”