Naz Rabia, Ayub Hafsa, Nawaz Sajid, Islam Zia Ul, Yasmin Tayyaba, Bano Asghari, Wakeel Abdul, Zia Saqib, Roberts Thomas H
Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, PMAS University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017 Jun 8;17(1):302. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1815-z.
The plant species Aristolochia indica (AI), Melilotus indicus (MI), Tribulus terrestris (TT) and Cuscuta pedicellata (CP) are widely used in folk medicine in the villages around Chowk Azam, South Punjab, Pakistan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity, phytochemical composition, and the antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory potential of the four medicinal plants listed above. For CP stem, this study represents (to the best of our knowledge) the first time phytochemicals have been identified and the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential determined.
Phytochemicals were analyzed through chemical tests, thin layer chromatography (TLC) and spectrophotometric methods. Antioxidant activities (DPPH and HO) were also determined through spectrophotometric methods. Extracts were evaluated for antibacterial potential via the agar well diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia and Acinetobacter baumannii. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined by the microdilution method. Antifungal activities were tested using the agar tube dilution method against three species: Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus oryzae. The cytotoxic potential of the plant extracts was checked using the brine shrimp assay. In vitro anti-inflammatory activity of the selected plant extracts was evaluated using albumin denaturation, membrane stabilization and proteinase inhibitory assays.
Of all the methanolic extracts tested, those from CP (stem) and TTF (T. terrestris fruit) had the highest phenolic, flavonoid and flavonol contents (497±4 mg GAE/g, 385±8 mg QE/g and 139±4 mg QE/g; 426±5 mg GAE/g, 371±8 mg QE/g and 138±6 mg QE/g, respectively) and also exhibited strong antioxidant potential in scavenging DPPH and hydrogen peroxide (IC values; 20±1 and 18±0.7 μg/mL; 92±2 and 26±2 μg/mL, respectively). CP, TTF and TTL (T. terrestris leaf) extracts substantially inhibited the growth of the bacteria A. baumannii, S. aureus, and K. pneumonia and also exhibited the highest antifungal potential. The ranking of the plant extracts for cytotoxicity was TTF > TTL > AI > CP > MI, while the ranking for in vitro anti-inflammatory potential at a concentration of 200 μg/mL of the selected plant extracts was CP > TTL, TTF > AI > MI. The lowest IC (28 μg/mL) observed in the albumin denaturation assay was for CP. Positive correlations were observed between total phenolics, antioxidants, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory potential of the selected plant extracts, indicating a significant contribution of phenolic compounds in the plant extracts to these activities.
This study revealed the strong antimicrobial, antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory potential of the plant species CP and TT used in folk medicine.
印度马兜铃（AI）、印度草木犀（MI）、刺蒺藜（TT）和菟丝子（CP）这几种植物在巴基斯坦旁遮普省南部乔克阿扎姆周围的村庄被广泛用于民间医药。本研究的目的是评估上述四种药用植物的抗氧化活性、植物化学成分以及抗菌、抗真菌、细胞毒性和抗炎潜力。对于CP茎，据我们所知，本研究首次鉴定了其植物化学成分，并测定了其抗氧化和抗炎潜力。
通过化学试验、薄层色谱法（TLC）和分光光度法分析植物化学成分。抗氧化活性（DPPH和HO）也通过分光光度法测定。通过琼脂孔扩散法针对金黄色葡萄球菌、铜绿假单胞菌、肺炎克雷伯菌和鲍曼不动杆菌评估提取物的抗菌潜力。通过微量稀释法测定最低抑菌浓度（MIC）和最低杀菌浓度（MBC）。使用琼脂管稀释法针对烟曲霉、黄曲霉和米根霉三种菌种测试抗真菌活性。使用卤虫试验检查植物提取物的细胞毒性潜力。使用白蛋白变性、膜稳定和蛋白酶抑制试验评估所选植物提取物的体外抗炎活性。
在所有测试的甲醇提取物中，CP（茎）和TTF（刺蒺藜果实）的提取物具有最高的酚类、黄酮类和黄酮醇含量（分别为497±4 mg GAE/g、385±8 mg QE/g和139±4 mg QE/g；426±5 mg GAE/g、371±8 mg QE/g和138±6 mg QE/g），并且在清除DPPH和过氧化氢方面也表现出很强的抗氧化潜力（IC值分别为20±1和18±0.7 μg/mL；92±2和26±2 μg/mL）。CP、TTF和TTL（刺蒺藜叶）提取物显著抑制鲍曼不动杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌和肺炎克雷伯菌的生长，并且还表现出最高的抗真菌潜力。植物提取物的细胞毒性排名为TTF > TTL > AI > CP > MI，而在所选植物提取物浓度为200 μg/mL时的体外抗炎潜力排名为CP > TTL、TTF > AI > MI。在白蛋白变性试验中观察到的最低IC（28 μg/mL）是CP的。所选植物提取物的总酚类、抗氧化剂、抗菌、抗真菌和抗炎潜力之间存在正相关，表明植物提取物中的酚类化合物对这些活性有显著贡献。
本研究揭示了民间医药中使用的CP和TT这两种植物具有很强的抗菌、抗氧化、细胞毒性和抗炎潜力。
