Abstract
Objective: phytochemical investigation of the ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) of 80% aqueous methanol extract (AME) of Dypsis leptocheilos leaves, in addition to evaluation of the antioxidant, cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities of the AME and EAF. Docking was used to predict and understand cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds.
 Methods: The ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) of Dypsis leptocheilos leaves was subjected to different chromatographic separation techniques. Structures of the isolated compounds were established by different spectroscopic techniques (1H/13C NMR). Antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH assay, while cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT cell viability assay. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by agar diffusion method. The docking study was conducted using Auto Dock Vina; the estrogen receptor (PDB 5t92) was used as a receptor for the docking.
 Results: Chromatographic separation techniques were led to the isolation of five phenolic compounds; these compounds were identified to be apigenin 8-C-β-D-glucopyranoside (Vitexin) (1), apigenin 6-C-β-D-glucopyranoside (Isovitexin) (2), luteolin 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), luteolin 8-C-β-D-glucopyranoside (Orientin) (4), luteolin 6-C-β-D-glucopyranoside (Isoorientin) (5). They were isolated and identified for the first time from this plant species. The AME and EAF showed moderate activity against Gram positive and Gram negatvie bacteria, while both of them showed similar and powerful antioxidant activity with SC50 = 12.8±0.56 µg/ml and SC50 = 17±0.77 µg/ml respectively, compared to ascorbic (reference drug) SC50 = 14.2±0.35 µg/ml. The EAF showed higher cytotoxic activity on the MCF-7 cells (human breast cancer cell line), with IC50 = 12.3 ± 1.82 µg/ml, compared to Vinblastine Sulfate (reference drug). All isolated compounds showed good binding affinity to the estrogen receptors existed in the MCF-7 cell.
 Conclusion: Five phenolic compounds were isolated for the first time from the EAF of Dypsis leptocheilos leaves. The AME and EAF extracts showed variable antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities.
Highlights
Medicinal plants are the richest bio-resource of drugs related to the traditional medical system, modern medicines, nutraceuticals, food supplements, folk medicines, pharmaceutical intermediates, and chemical entities for synthetic drugs [1]
Five phenolic compounds were isolated for the first time from the ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) of Dypsis leptocheilos leaves
The scavenging ability of DPPH radical is widely used for antioxidant evaluation of natural products besides other several in vitro complementary assays based on inactivation of O2–and NO radicals [27]
Summary
Medicinal plants are the richest bio-resource of drugs related to the traditional medical system, modern medicines, nutraceuticals, food supplements, folk medicines, pharmaceutical intermediates, and chemical entities for synthetic drugs [1]. The medicinal plants are beneficial for curing human diseases because of the presence of phytochemical constituents. Several important medicinal components are derived from plants like alkaloids, flavonoids tannins, terpenoids, steroids etc [2]. Dypsis is one of the largest single genera in the palm family, with over 170 species ranging from tiny understory plants to massive emergent canopy palms and just about every size in between. Dypsis are an extraordinary phenomenon of evolutionary diversity; this genus is composed of numerous former separate palm genera, including Vonitra, Chrysalidocarpus, Phloga, Neophloga, Phogella, Trichodypsis, Haplodypsis, Adelodypsis, Antogilia, and Neodypsis. By reviewing the current literature, it was found that no reports dealt with the phytochemical study of D. leptocheilos and this encouraged our team to work for isolation and identification of its Phyto-constituents in addition to evaluation of its therapeutic activities
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