The first bioactivity studies of Acantholimon lycopodioides from high altitude Karakoram-Himalayan desert

Abstract

Couple of ethnopharmacological surveys in the Indian Ladakh and Pakistani Shigar valleys has reported the medicinal use of Acantholimon lycopodioides against cardiac and gastric disorders that however, remains without scientific rationale or experimental validations. Here, we assess the in vitro bio/therapeutic activities of A. lycopodioides extracts as well as chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and aqueous fractions. The in vitro β-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching and DPPH radical scavenging methods demonstrated a very high anti-oxidative property of chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions compared to others. Cell viability assay (MTT) on human cervical (HeLa), breast (MDA-MB321) and liver (HepG2) cancer cells revealed their differential cytotoxicity, except the chloroform fraction. Of these, the precipitate exerted highest cytotoxicity on HepG2 cells followed by aqueous fraction on MDA-MB321 cells. Notably, the non-cytotoxicity of chloroform fraction coincided with its highest anti-oxidative activity. Further, the chloroform fraction showed marked hepatoprotection (up to 84%) against 3′7′dichlorofluorescin triggered free radicals induced oxidative damage. Also, the hepatoprotective chloroform fraction mildly activated CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells (dual-luciferase assay). Moreover, the A. lycopodioides extracts and fractions showed differential anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities. Of these, while S. aureus was more sensitive to the water-insoluble extract, ethyl acetate fraction showed moderate activity against E. coli and C. albicans . On the other hand, the chloroform fraction showed promising activity against S. Aureus , C. albicans, P. vulgaris and E. faecalis. In conclusion, our data for the first time, demonstrated promising anti-oxidative, hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, anti-microbial and CYP3A4 activating salutations of A. lycopodioides . This warrants further studies towards isolation and identification of its therapeutically active principles.

Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antibiofilm, Antioxidant, and Anticancer Properties of Methanol Extracts of Some Acantholimon Boiss (Plumbaginaceae) Species

“…The genus contains many plants as endemic species [6,10]. Extracts of this plant species are known to exhibit very good inhibitory effects on a wide variety of bacteria, fungi, and different cell lines [11][12][13][14].…”

“…It is reported to have a medically traditional use among people in Asia [22,23]. The biological activities of extracts and some fractions of the species Acantholimon lycopodioides were studied by [24]. In the study, they reported that Acantholimon species have important biological activities in terms of antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, and hepatoprotective properties.…”

“…(2020) evaluated the cytotoxicity, free radical scavenging activity, and antimicrobial activity against some bacterial species of three species belonging to the genus Acantholimon on various cell lines and found quite ambitious results [14]. emphasized that Acantholimon lycopodioides have important biological activities in terms of antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer properties [13]. Within the framework of these aims, in this study, the activities of Plumbaginaceae family members on various bioactive and anticancer properties on a wide variety of bacterial groups, fungal groups, and cell lines were monitored.…”