Abstract
Ononis spinosa L. is a plant traditionally used as folk remedy. There are numerous studies regarding chemical constituents and health beneficial properties of Ononidis Radix. The following study was designed to investigate chemical composition and antifungal potential of the methanolic extract obtained from the O. spinosa L. herb. Chemical analyses regarding phenolic compounds of O. spinosa were performed by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-ESI/MSn). Antifungal activity, antibiofilm properties and antifungal mode of action of the extract were evaluated, as well as cytotoxicity. Chemical analyses revealed the presence of flavonoids, isoflavonoids and phenolic acids in O. spinosa, with kaempherol-O-hexoside-pentoside being the most abundant compound (5.1 mg/g extract). Methanolic extract was active against all of the tested microfungi with Penicillium aurantiogriseum being the most sensitive to the extract inhibitory effect at 0.02 mg/mL; and effectively inhibited biofilms formed by Candida strains. Minimum fungicidal concentrations of extract rose in the presence of ergosterol and leakage of cellular components was detected. The extract showed no cytotoxicity to human gingival fibroblast (HGF-1) cells. This study significantly contributes to overall knowledge about medicinal potential of O. spinosa herbal extract and enlightens previously unrevealed properties. O. spinosa aerial parts seem to be an interesting candidate for the development of antifungal preparations, non-toxic to human cells.
Highlights
Colossal structural diversity and biological activity of natural molecules are unrivaled by any available synthetic drugs in reference libraries
Bearing in mind that most of the investigations of O. spinosa as healing plant are focused on the analysis of the phytochemicals and health beneficial properties from the roots, and that ethno-medicinal use of O. spinosa aerial parts is limitedly described in the literature, the aim of this study was to identify phenolic compounds presented in aerial parts of O. spinosa and to investigate potential antifungal properties of methanolic extract against wide spectrum of fungal pathogens and contaminants
The chromatographic data obtained from the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with a Diode Array Detector and Electrospray Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn) analyses of the phenolic compounds in the extracts of O. spinosa are presented in the Table 1 and Figure 1
Summary
Colossal structural diversity and biological activity of natural molecules are unrivaled by any available synthetic drugs in reference libraries. As such, these privileged platforms derived from nature serve as important scaffolds for the design of novel therapeutic candidates, including antifungals. More than a billion people are suffering from various fungal infections, with more than 1.5 million having fatal consequences [1] These infections are difficult to treat making the mortality rates high even in the 21th century, despite various antifungals that are currently available [1]. The ashes obtained after burning the plant samples of O. spinosa were previously shown as active against different Candida species [3]. Previous antifungal investigations of plants belonging to Ononis genera have shown that extracts obtained from Ononis species have antibacterial and antifungal effects [13,14]
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