Evaluation of chemical constituents and in vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity potential of rhizome of Astilbe rivularis (Bodho-okhati), an indigenous medicinal plant from Eastern Himalayan region of India

Vaskar Das,Shilpi Ghosh,Anoop Kumar,Vijeta Rai

doi:10.1186/s12906-019-2621-6

Vaskar Das, Shilpi Ghosh

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-019-2621-6

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Abstract

BackgroundAstilbe rivularisL. is an indigenous medicinal plant growing in high altitude of Darjeeling Himalayan region of India and Nepal. The plant rhizome has been used traditionally as medicine by local tribes to treat various ailments including infectious and other diseases. The present study aims to evaluate the plant rhizome for chemical composition and in vitro antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxic bioactivities.MethodsThe methanolic extract of rhizome was analyzed for phytochemical constituents by biochemical and GC-MS methods. The antibacterial property of the extract was monitored by agar well diffusion assay. Antioxidant potential was assessed by in vitro DPPH and ABTS scavenging assays and scavenging of induced ROS in normal cell line using fluorescent probe 2′, 7′- dichlorofluorescin diacetate. Cytotoxic effect of the extract in cancer and normal cell lines was determined by MTT assay.ResultsRhizome methanolic extract contained terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins, phenols, alkaloids, saponins and reducing sugars. Further analysis of extract by GC-MS showed the presence of nine major constituents belonging to terpenoids and fatty acid groups. The extract had marked in vitro ROS scavenging activity and moderate antibacterial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. It showed cytotoxicity to neuroblastoma (SHSY5Y) cell line with IC50 value < 100 μg ml− 1 but had least damaging effect on normal cells, like human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) and liver (WRL-68) cell lines.ConclusionThe study suggests that Astilbe rivularis has potential as source of new potent antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer agents. Further studies on purification and characterization of active compounds from Astilbe rivularis and their biological evaluation are highly recommended.

Highlights

Astilbe rivularis L. is an indigenous medicinal plant growing in high altitude of Darjeeling Himalayan region of India and Nepal
The preliminary in vitro phytochemical analysis of methanolic extract of Astilbe rivularis (AR) rhizome revealed the presence of various classes of phytochemicals, such as tannins, phenols, cardiac-glycosides, saponins, terpenoids and alkaloids with terpenoids being the most abundant one (Table 1)
Further the qualitative and quantitative analyses of phytochemicals were performed by GC-MS

Summary

Introduction

Astilbe rivularis L. is an indigenous medicinal plant growing in high altitude of Darjeeling Himalayan region of India and Nepal. Plants are being used as therapeutics from ancient time without the prior knowledge of their active components. They have been the major source of phytochemicals with therapeutic potential. Scientific studies on ethnomedicinal plants have resulted in discovery of several therapeutic drugs [3, 4]. Previous research works on anticancer potential of plants resulted in the development of valuable anticancer drugs, such as taxol, camptothecin, vincristine and vinblastine [5]. These drugs are reported to target mitotic spindle assembly, chromosome segregation, cell division and apoptosis [6]. Natural anticancer compounds have been reported with various targeting mechanisms, like up-regulation of p16INK4A, preventing MRCK- kinase that targeting multiple gene products and targeting mitotic processes in different types of cancer, such as human mouth epidermal carcinoma, murine leukemia, human colorectal cancer and prostate cancer [7]

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