Cytotoxicity, antioxidant and phytochemical screening of propolis extracts from four different Malaysian stingless bee species

Abstract

Propolis is a plant-derived substance collected by stingless bee’s product from various sources, including plant resins with combination of bee’s saliva and wax. Propolis has been used to treat several diseases since ancient times and it is an important source of bioactive natural compound and drug derivatives. The aim of this study was to evaluate biological and chemical profiles of ethanolic extracts from propolis produced by Heterotrigona itama (HI), Geniotrigona thoracica (GT), Lepidotrigona terminate (LT), and Tretrigona apicalis (TA). Cytotoxicity activity was evaluated by using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-YI)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay against three cancer cell lines. H. itama extracts showed the highest cytotoxicity effect with of 5 µg/mL, 4 µg/mL and 8 µg/mL for MDA-MB-231, SK-UT-1 and HeLa, respectively. Other species only possessed moderate to weak cytotoxicity effect against tested cells. Phytochemical screening was carried out by thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis and visualized by derivatives agents in order to detect the presence of terpenoids, steroids, saponins, essential oils and phenol. It was found that H. itama (HI) possessed the highest antioxidant activity with the lowest of 30 µg/mL with percetange of inhibition at 85.69 % evaluated by (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) DPPH scaveging assay. In conclusion, bee species was considered as important factor in selecting the quality of propolis. It was found that H. itama produced the most active extract compared to other species. The data obtained from this study would be the basis for further investigation on therapeutic application especially for cytotoxic activity, antioxidant and phytochemical screenings for four Malaysian stingless bees of propolis.

GC‐MS Evaluation, Antioxidant Content, and Cytotoxic Activity of Propolis Extract from Peninsular Malaysian Stingless Bees, Tetrigona Apicalis

“…The previous cytotoxicity study on EEP of T. apicalis by Mat Nafi et al [ 9 ] reported that EEP did not exhibit cytotoxic activity against different cancer cell lines. MDA-MB-231, SK-UT-1, and HeLa for 72 hours with IC 50 of HeLa were 68 μ g/mL.…”

“…Each well was added with 100 μ L DMSO. The purple colour formed due to the dissolved formazan with DMSO corresponded to the number of viable cells [ 9 ]. The absorbance was measured at 570 nm with a spectrophotometer.…”

“…In Malaysia, multiple researches have been conducted to observe the effectiveness of propolis for some biological activities. The detection of phytochemical compounds and antioxidant activity of Malaysian propolis was successfully discussed in several studies using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) [ 5 – 9 ].…”

“…The propolis extract of T. apicalis has also been well investigated in terms of its cytotoxic activities. Mat Nafi [ 9 ] found that T. apicalis did not exhibit any cytotoxic activity against HeLa (cervical cancer cells), MDA-MB-231 (breast cancer cells), and SK-UT-1 (uterine leiomyosarcoma cells) cancer cells. In addition, Gapar [ 15 ] also found that propolis extract of T. apicalis inhibited almost 50% of HeLa cells through apoptosis induction.…”

Determination of Antioxidant Activity, Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Contents of Malaysian Stingless Bee Propolis Extracts

“…DPPH free radical scavenging activity of propolis extracts was determined according to the technique by Nafi et al (2019). Quercetin served as the standard reference.…”