Active Phytochemical Detecting, Antioxidant, Cytotoxic, Apoptotic Activities of Ethyl Acetate and Methanol Extracts of Galium aparine L.
Özlem Sultan Aslantürk
Department of Biology, Faculty of Art and Science, Adnan Menderes University, Central Campus, Aydin, Turkey.
Tülay Aşkin Çelik *
Department of Biology, Faculty of Art and Science, Adnan Menderes University, Central Campus, Aydin, Turkey.
Burçin Karabey
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ege University, Basic and Industrial Microbiology, Izmir, Turkey.
Fatih Karabey
Nural Foreign Trade Company, Izmir, Turkey.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to detect active phytochemicals in ethyl acetate (EAE) and methanol (ME) extracts of Galium aparine L. and determine in vitro antioxidant, cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of these extracts.
The phytochemicals present in the plant were determined using standard methods and HPLC.
EAE and ME of Galium aparine arial parts were tested for antioxidant (by using DPPH radical scavenging, H2O2 scavenging and metal chelating assays), cytotoxic (by using MTT assay on MCF-7 breast cancer and Caco-2 colon cancer cells), and apoptotic activity (DNA diffusion assay on MCF-7 breast cancer and Caco-2 colon cancer cells). Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were used as control cells.
As a result of phytochemical screening of EAE and ME of Galium aparine arial parts, phenols, tannins, alkaloids, anthraquinones and saponins were detected. Furthermore, rutin, a flavonoid phytochemical was found in both of the extracts by HPLC analysis. EAE and ME have cytotoxic and apoptotic activity on human MCF-7 breast cancer and Caco-2 colon cancer cells. These activities may depend on polarity of solvents used in the extraction and on concentration of the extracts. EAE and ME showed strong DPPH• radical scavenging, very low H2O2 scavenging and metal chelation activity. Besides, EAE showed higher cytotoxic and apoptotic effect on human peripheral lymphocytes compared to ME. The G. aparine EAE and ME led cytotoxicity and apoptosis in human MCF-7 breast cancer and Caco-2 colon cancer cells.
Keywords: Apoptosis, Caco-2 cells, cytotoxicity, DPPH radical scavenging activity, G. aparine L., MCF-7 cell, phytochemical screening.