Purpose:
To evaluate the cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of four different solvent
extracts obtained from the aerial parts of
Galega officinalis L
Methods:
The hexane, DCM, methanol and water extracts of G. officinalis were successively obtained
by soxhlet extraction method. The cytotoxic activity of the extracts was assessed against human lung
carcinoma (A-549), human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29), human brain glioblastoma (U-87), and
colon adenocarcinoma (DLD-1) by Resazurine test. The antioxidant activity of extracts were determined
by Folin-Ciocalteau, oxygen radical absorbing capacity (ORAC), and 2’.7’-dichlorofluorescin-diacetate
(DCFH-DA) cell-based assay while their anti-inflammatory activity was determined by nitric oxide (NO)
assay.
Results:
DCM extract showed strong cytotoxic activity against lung adenocarcinoma and brain
glioblastoma cell lines, with IC50 (concentration inhibiting 50 % of cell growth) values of 11 ± 0.4 and 16
± 3 μg/mL, respectively. The hexane extract showed moderate anticancer activity against the same cell
lines (59 ± 13 and 63 ± 16 μg/mL, respectively). DCM extract also showed significant anti-inflammatory
activity, inhibiting NO release by 86.7 % at 40 μg/mL in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) - stimulated murine
RAW 264.7 macrophages. Of all test extracts, the methanol extract of G. officinalis showed the highest
antioxidant activity with 2.33 ± 0.09 μmol Trolox/mg , 7.10 ± 0.9 g tannic acid equivalent (TAE), and IC50
of 44 ± 4 μg/mL.
Conclusion:
The findings of this study suggest that DCM extract may possess anticancer effect against
lung adenocarcinoma and brain glioblastoma, as well as serve as an anti-inflammatory agent.
