Department of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Prof. C. R. Rao Road, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500 046, India.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013 Mar 2;13:53. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-53.
The use of traditional medicine at the primary health care level is widespread and plant-based treatments are being recommended for curing various diseases by traditional medical practitioners all over the world. The phytochemicals present in the fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants are getting attention day-by-day for their active role in the prevention of several human diseases. Abrus precatorius is a widely distributed tropical medicinal plant with several therapeutic properties. Therefore in the present study, A. precatorius leaf extracts were examined for their antioxidant and cytotoxic properties in vitro in order to discover resources for new lead structures or to improve the traditional medicine.
In this study, antioxidant and antiproliferative properties of the different leaf extracts (hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and water) from A. precatorius were investigated along with the quantification of the polyphenol and flavonoid contents. The ability of deactivating free radicals was extensively investigated with in vitro biochemical methods like DPPH(∙), (∙)OH, NO, SO(2-) scavenging assays and inhibition capability of Fe(II)-induced lipid peroxidation. Furthermore, antiproliferative activities using different human cancer cell lines and primary cell line was carried out by MTT method.
Total phenolic content and total flavonoid content of the extracts were found in the range of 1.65 ± 0.22 to 25.48 ± 0.62 GAE mg/g dw and 6.20 ± 0.41 to 17.16 ± 1.04 QE mg/g dw respectively. The experimental results further revealed that A. precatorius extracts showed strong antiradical properties, capable to chelate Fe(2+) and possess good inhibition ability of lipid peroxidation. In addition, as a first step towards the identification of phytoconstituents endowed with potent chemopreventive activities, we evaluated the inhibitory effects of A. precatorius extracts on the proliferation of four different human tumour cell lines such as human colon adenocarcinoma cells (Colo-205), human retinoblastoma cancer cells (Y79), human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) and Leukemia cells (SupT1). Ethanol extract (APA) and ethyl acetate extract (APE) of A. precatorius had apparent capabilities of inhibiting the survival of tested human cancer cell lines. Moreover, it was observed that the A. precatorius extracts did not inhibit the growth of mice peritoneal macrophages, thus confirming that plants extracts are selective against the cancer cell lines.
This work provides a scientific support for the high antioxidant and antiproliferative activity of this plant and thus it may find potential applications in the treatment of the diseases caused by ROS. Further studies are needed to confirm in vivo anti-tumorgenicity and subsequent chemical characterization of the active molecule(s).
在初级卫生保健层面，传统医学的应用非常广泛，世界各地的传统医学从业者都推荐使用植物疗法来治疗各种疾病。水果、蔬菜和药用植物中的植物化学物质因其在预防多种人类疾病方面的积极作用，日益受到关注。鸡骨草是一种分布广泛的热带药用植物，具有多种治疗特性。因此，在本研究中，我们研究了鸡骨草叶提取物的抗氧化和细胞毒性特性，以期发现新的先导结构资源或改进传统医学。
在这项研究中，我们研究了鸡骨草叶的不同提取物（己烷、乙酸乙酯、乙醇和水）的抗氧化和抗增殖特性，并测定了多酚和类黄酮的含量。我们采用体外生化方法（DPPH(∙)、(∙)OH、NO、SO(2-)清除试验和 Fe(II)诱导的脂质过氧化抑制能力）广泛研究了自由基失活能力。此外，我们还通过 MTT 法测定了不同人癌细胞系和原代细胞系的抗增殖活性。
提取物中的总酚含量和总类黄酮含量分别在 1.65±0.22 至 25.48±0.62 GAE mg/g dw 和 6.20±0.41 至 17.16±1.04 QE mg/g dw 范围内。实验结果进一步表明，鸡骨草提取物具有很强的抗自由基特性，能够螯合 Fe(2+)并具有良好的抑制脂质过氧化能力。此外，作为鉴定具有潜在化学预防作用的植物成分的第一步，我们评估了鸡骨草提取物对四种不同人肿瘤细胞系（人结肠腺癌细胞（Colo-205）、人视网膜母细胞瘤癌细胞（Y79）、人肝癌细胞（HepG2）和白血病细胞（SupT1））增殖的抑制作用。鸡骨草的乙醇提取物（APA）和乙酸乙酯提取物（APE）具有明显抑制测试人癌细胞系存活的能力。此外，还观察到鸡骨草提取物不会抑制小鼠腹腔巨噬细胞的生长，这证实了植物提取物对癌细胞系具有选择性。
这项工作为该植物的高抗氧化和抗增殖活性提供了科学依据，因此它可能在治疗由 ROS 引起的疾病方面具有潜在的应用价值。需要进一步的研究来确认体内抗致瘤性和随后对活性分子的化学表征。
