Bougainvillea × buttiana is a plant widely used in traditional Mexican medicine and other parts of the world for the treatment of various health disorders. In this study, the antioxidant and cytoprotective activities of three ethanolic extracts of B. × buttiana (BxbO (Orange), BxbR1 (Rose1) and BxbR2 (Rose2)) were investigated. Antioxidant activities were determined by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), DPPH free radicals scavenging activity, and radical scavenging effects on nitric oxide (NO). The in vitro cytoprotective effect of the extracts against oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide-(H2O2) in a model of L929 cells was also determined as well as NO uptake with or without H2O2 through the MTT assay. The results revealed that there was a difference between the compounds present in each of the extracts, with the 2-Hydroxycinnamic acid compound being observed in all the extracts. The 2-Hydroxycinnamic acid compound was tested in silico to predict its biological (PASSonline) and toxicological (Osiris Property Explorer) activity. All extracts with 1 to 4 mg/mL inhibited the activity of the NO radical. In cells exposed to 1 mg/mL of extracts followed by H2O2 exposure, cell protection ranged from 66.96 to 83.46%. The treatment of the cells with extracts prevented the morphological changes caused by H2O2. The 2-Hydroxycinnamic acid compound showed a probability of in silico antioxidant and cytoprotective activity greater than 0.5 and 0.6, respectively. Therefore, the results demonstrated that Bxb extracts exert antioxidant and protective activities against H2O2-induced oxidative stress in L929 cells.
Keywords: Bougainvillea × buttiana; antioxidant activity; chemical compounds; cytoprotective effect; in silico study.