Abstract
The freshwater alga Spirogyra porticalis (Muell.) Cleve, a filamentous charophyte, collected from the Indian trans-Himalayan cold desert, was identified on the basis of morpho-anatomical characters. Extracts of this alga were made using solvents of varying polarity viz. n-hexane, acetonitrile, methanol and water. The antioxidant capacities and phenolic profile of the extracts were estimated. The methanol extract showing highest antioxidant capacity and rich phenolic attributes was further investigated and phytochemical profiling was conducted by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) hyphenated technique. The cytotoxic activity of methanol extract was evaluated on human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 and colon carcinoma RKO cell lines. The anti-hypoxic effect of methanol extract of the alga was tested on in vivo animal system to confirm its potential to ameliorate oxidative stress. The antioxidant assays viz. ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging capacities, β-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching property and lipid peroxidation exhibited analogous results, wherein the algal extracts showed significantly high antioxidant potential. The extracts were also found to possess high content of total proanthocyanidin, flavonoid and polyphenol. GC/MS analysis revealed the presence of thirteen chemotypes in the methanol extract representing different phytochemical groups like fatty acid esters, sterols, unsaturated alcohols, alkynes etc. with substantial phyto-pharmaceutical importance. The methanol extract was observed to possess anticancer activity as revealed from studies on HepG2 and RKO cell lines. In the present study, S. porticalis methanol extract also provided protection from hypoxia-induced oxidative stress and accelerated the onset of adaptative changes in rats during exposure to hypobaric hypoxia. The bioactive phytochemicals present in this trans-Himalayan alga are of enormous interest and can be utilized sustainably for discovery of novel drugs against oxidative stress.
Highlights
Natural antioxidants present in plants are known to play a vital role against stress-induced oxidative damage resulting due to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the cellular milieu, or due to various diseases and ageing processes [1,2,3,4]
From the cytotoxicity tests in both cell lines, our results have clearly described the fact that GI50 of S. porticalis methanol extract was 86 μg/ml for HepG2 cells, which was well below 100 μg/ml and according to the NCI (National Cancer Institute) guideline, this extract could act as a potent anticancer drug for these cells
The freshwater filamentous alga Spirogyra porticalis from the Indian trans-Himalayan cold desert of Ladakh had been identified by morpho-anatomical characteristics and the antioxidant capacities of the algal extracts reported for the first time
Summary
Natural antioxidants present in plants are known to play a vital role against stress-induced oxidative damage resulting due to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the cellular milieu, or due to various diseases and ageing processes [1,2,3,4]. Such compounds reflect potential in promoting overall health and well-being, and hold potential for medicinal use, for treating a broad range of ailments and maladies confronting humans. A large number of algal products are find reliability in the food, cosmetic, biochemical and pharmaceutical industries [7,8,9,10,11,12,13]
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