Determination of in vitro antioxidant activity and in vivo antineoplastic effects against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma of methanolic extract of Sphagneticola calendulacea (L.) Pruski

Md Wasim Bari; Ariful Islam; Md Monirul Islam; Mst Julia Sultana; Rashida Afroz; Md Mahbubur Rahman Khan; Salina Shaheen Parul; A M Swaraz; Mohammad Ismail Hossain; Mohammad Amirul Islam

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07228

Determination of in vitro antioxidant activity and in vivo antineoplastic effects against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma of methanolic extract of Sphagneticola calendulacea (L.) Pruski

Heliyon. 2021 Jun 9;7(6):e07228. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07228. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, 6205, Bangladesh.
² Department of Cellular and Molecular Anatomy, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan.
³ Department of Biochemistry, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan.
⁴ Department of Neurophysiology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
⁶ Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore 7408, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Background and aim: Sphagneticola calendulacea (L.) Pruski (S. calendulacea) is a well-known medicinal plant that is widely used in traditional medicine. This study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant and antineoplastic properties of S. calendulacea leaf.

Experimental procedure: Methanol was used as a solvent to prepare leaf extract from the dried leaf of S. calendulacea (MESL). We have evaluated the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of MESL, and using five different assays; we have also evaluated the antioxidant property of MESL. In vivo antineoplastic activity of MESL against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells in experimental mice was also explored.

Results: The phytochemical analysis of MESL exhibited the total phenolic, and total flavonoid contents in the dry extracts were 32.86 mg/gm of gallic acid equivalent and 127.26 mg/gm of catechin equivalent, respectively. Moreover, MESL also showed promising scavenging activity in all assays (IC₅₀ value ≥70.5 μg/mL). In the in vivo antineoplastic assay, MESL showed increased EAC cell death at the doses of 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg body weight. MESL administration also induced apoptosis of EAC cells, significantly inhibited EAC cell growth, and increased the life span of EAC cell-bearing mice compared to EAC cell-bearing control mice.

Conclusions: All findings of this study suggest potential antioxidant and antineoplastic properties of MESL.

Keywords: Antineoplastic activity; Antioxidant activity; Apoptosis; Ehrlich ascites carcinoma; Sphagneticola calendulacea.