Abstract
The ethyl acetate, n hexane and methanol extracts of six cyanobacterial species isolated from paddy fields in Egypt were assessed for their antimicrobial activity, using disc diffusion method. Oscillatoria acuminata, Oscillatoria amphigranulata and Spirulina platensis methanolic extracts showed the highest inhibition zones. Minimum inhibitory concentration of O. amphigranulata extract recorded lower values using agar streak dilution method. O. acuminata methanolic extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (6.58 and 34.60 % using DPPH (2, 2- diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS+ (2, 2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) methods, respectively, followed by O. amphigranulata then S. platensis. Similarly, O. acuminata methanolic extract showed very strong cytotoxicity activity against HepG2 and HCT-116 cell lines and strong activity with MCF-7 cell lines. O. amphigranulata extract showed strong cytotoxicity for HepG2 and HCT-116 as well as moderate cytotoxicity for MCF-7 cell line. Whereas, S. platensis extract exhibited moderate cytotoxicity for all cell lines. Results of gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy analysis pointed out that the potential activity of these cyanobacterial extracts might be attributed to a synergistic effect between their pronounced contents of fatty acids, alkaloids, phytol, hydrocarbons, phenolics and phthalates, especially fatty acids. We recommend cyanobacteria as a rich source of natural products with potent pharmacological and medical applications.
Highlights
The increase in the rate of infection by antibioticsresistant microorganisms alarms for exploring of natural sources of antimicrobial compounds (Pandy 2015)
Results of gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy analysis pointed out that the potential activity of these cyanobacterial extracts might be attributed to a synergistic effect between their pronounced contents of fatty acids, alkaloids, phytol, hydrocarbons, phenolics and phthalates, especially fatty acids
The methanolic extracts showed the highest antimicrobial activity followed by ethyl acetate and hexane extracts
Summary
The increase in the rate of infection by antibioticsresistant microorganisms alarms for exploring of natural sources of antimicrobial compounds (Pandy 2015). Natural compounds with antitumor activities against colon CT-26 and lung 3LL cell lines from different extracts of 24 cyanobacterial strains were reported (Silva-Stenico et al 2013). Dietary supplementation of Spirulina platensis was helpful in the prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancer (Konickova et al 2014). On their reviews, Singh et al 2011, Vijayakumar & Menakha 2015 stated several compounds such as borophycin, cryptophycin 1, symplostatin, dolastatin, coibamide A, apratoxin A, curacin A, largazole and tolyporphin which were derived from different algal and cyanobacterial species that have valid mechanisms against variety of cancer cell lines.
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