Abstract
Background: Plants are a vital source of natural drugs as the traditional use of plants as therapeutic agents for a variety of ailments has been traced back thousands of years. The utilization of Heliotropium calcareum has been evident since ancient times for treating various disease states like inflammation associated with gout and rheumatism, poisonous bites, and other skin disorders. The current research work was carried out to determine the phytochemistry and biological activities of the crude methanolic extract obtained through maceration from the aerial parts of Heliotropium calcareum.
Methods: The plant was collected from district Bhakkar, Punjab, Pakistan. Maximum phenolic (74.5 μg GAE/mg) and flavonoid contents (58.99 μg QE/mg) were observed in ethyl acetate fraction. Significant antioxidant potential was observed in ethyl acetate fraction with the highest free radical hunting activity of 92.6 ± 6.7 μM.
Results: Cytotoxicity assay using MTT dye was performed where non-polar (n-hexane) and polar (ethyl acetate) fractions displayed excellent cytotoxicity against HeLa cells (IC50 = 79.95 ± 3.718 & 164 ± 4 μg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, the above fractions showed momentous results in cell cycle analysis and promising proapoptotic effect against cervical (HeLa) cancer cell lines. An nhexane and ethyl acetate fraction were selected for cell cycle analysis to determine the quantitative measurement of the degree of apoptosis. According to the results given below in the figure, the cervical (HeLa) cancer cells were treated with n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions at various concentrations. An increase in the cell population at G0/G1 phase and a decrease in the S-phase population concerning untreated cells suggested the G0/G1 phase arrest in n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions treated HeLa cells.
Conclusion: Taken together, n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions were found to be the most promising and active elements of H. calcareum and may be utilized to explore their cytotoxic effects further in the animal model.
Keywords: Heliotropium calcareum, breast cancer, cervical cancer, flow cytometry, non-polar extracts, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS).
Graphical Abstract
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
Functional Food Factors and Therapeutics
The development of new rugs in disease therapy is focused on targeting molecules involved in the growth and death of cells in attracting attention to immunotherapy. In the control and treatment of disease, classical drugs, which have been used for a long time, are still widely used as primary selective ...read more
Treatment of chronic diseases with edible Natural Products. The case of cardiovascular agents"
The aim of this special issue is to highlight the importance of the use of edible natural products (both isolated pure compounds and extracts-mixtures) in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In this topic, it would be interesting to include all the potential researchers that have been involved in the study ...read more
Related Books
Functional Foods for Health Maintenance: Understanding their Role in Cancer Prevention
Green Extraction Techniques in Food Analysis
Algal Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals: Benefits, Opportunities, and Challenges
Micronutrients: The Key to Good Health
Capillary Electrophoresis in Food Analysis
Nutritional Biochemistry: From the Classroom to the Research Bench
Hypersensitivity to Vitamins
Foods for Special Dietary Regimens
14