Metabolic profiling and biological activities of the aerial parts of Micromeria imbricata Forssk. growing in Saudi Arabia

Hanan M Al-Yousef; Omer I Fantoukh; May A El-Sayed; Musarat Amina; Rasha Adel; Wafaa H B Hassan; Sahar Abdelaziz

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.077

Metabolic profiling and biological activities of the aerial parts of Micromeria imbricata Forssk. growing in Saudi Arabia

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Oct;28(10):5609-5616. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.05.077. Epub 2021 Jun 4.

Authors

Hanan M Al-Yousef¹, Omer I Fantoukh¹, May A El-Sayed², Musarat Amina¹, Rasha Adel², Wafaa H B Hassan², Sahar Abdelaziz²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2457, Riyadh, 11451 Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, 44519 Zagazig, Egypt.

Abstract

The hydroalcoholic extract (MIT) of Micromeria imbricata (Forssk.) growing in Saudi Arabia in addition to the chloroform (MIC) and n-butanol (MIB) fractions were investigated for the first time using UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. The analysis revealed the tentative identification of fifty-eight compounds including three organic acids, twenty-five phenolic compounds, three coumarins, two anthocyanins, twenty-one flavonoids, three terpenes, and one miscellaneous. Moreover, the therapeutic potential of M. imbricata (MIT) and its fractions (MIC and MIB) were determined by in vitro evaluation of their cytotoxic, antioxidant, and anti-obesity characteristics. The MIT extract showed the highest phenolic (125.23 ± 0.87 mg gallic acid equivalent/100 gm extract) and flavonoid (112.24 ± 2.45 mg quercetin equivalent/100 gm extract) contents followed by n-butanol and chloroform fractions. The MIT extract revealed a potent cytotoxic activity against HepG-2 (Hepatocellular carcinoma) and MCF-7 (Breast carcinoma) with IC₅₀ 28.5 ± 2.0 and 35.2 ± 1.2 µg/mL, respectively. Additionally, the tested hydroalcoholic extract exhibited a significant DPPH scavenging activity with SC₅₀ 28.4 ± 1.2 µg/mL and a remarkable lipase inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ 54.2 ± 1.2 µg/mL. In conclusion, the current study presents the first insights into the phytochemical constituents and pharmacological properties of M. imbricata extract and its chloroform and n-butanol fractions. The results revealed that M. imbricata hydroalcoholic extract might be a prolific source of bioactive constituents with potent antioxidant, cytotoxic and anti-obesity potential. It might be a natural alternative therapy and nutritional strategy for obesity treatment.

Keywords: Anti-obesity; Antioxidant; Cytotoxicity; Lamiaceae; Micromeria imbricata; Phytochemicals; UPLC-ESI-MS/MS.