Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cytotoxic potential of Cardamine amara L. (Brassicaceae): A comprehensive biochemical, toxicological, and in silico computational study

Abdul Basit; Saeed Ahmad; Kashif Ur Rehman Khan; Hanan Y Aati; Asmaa E Sherif; Chitchamai Ovatlarnporn; Safiullah Khan; Huma Rao; Muhammad Adeel Arshad; Muhammad Nadeem Shahzad; Shagufta Perveen

doi:10.3389/fchem.2022.1077581

Evaluation of the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cytotoxic potential of Cardamine amara L. (Brassicaceae): A comprehensive biochemical, toxicological, and in silico computational study

Front Chem. 2023 Jan 6:10:1077581. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2022.1077581. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Abdul Basit^{1

2}, Saeed Ahmad³, Kashif Ur Rehman Khan³, Hanan Y Aati⁴, Asmaa E Sherif^{5

6}, Chitchamai Ovatlarnporn^{1

2}, Safiullah Khan⁷, Huma Rao³, Muhammad Adeel Arshad⁸, Muhammad Nadeem Shahzad³, Shagufta Perveen⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Thailand.
² Drug Delivery System Excellence Center, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Thailand.
³ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
⁸ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁹ Department of Chemistry, School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Cardamine amara L. (Brassicaceae) is an important edible plant with ethnomedicinal significance. This study aimed at evaluating the phytochemical composition, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and cytotoxicity aspects of the hydro-alcoholic extract of C. amara (HAECA). Methods: The phytochemical composition was evaluated through total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC) determination and UPLC-QTOF-MS profiling. Anti-inflammatory evaluation of HAECA was carried out through the carrageenan induced paw edema model. Four in vitro methods were applied in the antioxidant evaluation of HAECA. MTT assay was used to investigate the toxicity profile of the species against human normal liver cells (HL7702), human liver cancer cell lines (HepG2) and human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7). Three major compounds (Gentisic acid, skullcapflavone and conidendrine) identified in UPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis were selected for in silico study against cyclooxygenase (COX-I and COX-II). Results and Discussion: The findings revealed that HAECA is rich in TPC (39.32 ± 2.3 mg GAE/g DE) and TFC (17.26 ± 0.8 mg RE/g DE). A total of 21 secondary metabolites were tentatively identified in UPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis. In the MTT cytotoxicity assay, the extract showed low toxicity against normal cell lines, while significant anticancer activity was observed against human liver and breast cancer cells. The carrageenan induced inflammation was inhibited by HAECA in a dose dependent manner and showed a marked alleviation in the levels of oxidative stress (catalase, SOD, GSH) and inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-1β). Similarly, HAECA showed maximum antioxidant activity through the Cupric reducing power antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) assay (31.21 ± 0.3 mg TE/g DE). The in silico study revealed a significant molecular docking score of the three studied compounds against COX-I and COX-I. Conclusively the current study encourages the use of C. amara as a novel polyphenolic rich source with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential and warrants further investigations on its toxicity profile.

Keywords: Cardamine amara; UPLC-Q-TOF-MS; anti-inflammatory; cytotoxicity; molecular docking; oxidative stress.