Qualitative Fingerprint Analysis and Multidirectional Assessment of Different Crude Extracts and Essential Oil from Wild Artemisia santonicum L.

Claudio Ferrante,Zoltán Cziáky,József Jekő,Gokhan Zengin,Mohamad Fawzi Mahomoodally,Ismail Senkardes,Luigi Menghini,Annalisa Chiavaroli,Giustino Orlando,Sheila Leone,Alina Diuzheva,Devina Lobine,Lucia Recinella,Luigi Brunetti

doi:10.3390/pr7080522

Abstract

Artemisia species are used as folk medicines in several countries. This work was aimed to shed more light on the effect of methanol, water, ethyl acetate extracts, and essential oil (EO) of A. santonicum on selected enzymes (cholinesterase, tyrosinase α-amylase, and α-glucosidase) as well of their antioxidant and pharmacological effects. The chemical profile of the essential oil was determined using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, while the extracts were chemically characterized by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Forty-nine constituents were identified and camphor (36.6%), 1,8-cineole (10.2%), α-thujone (10.1%), borneol (4.5%), and β-thujone (3.6%) were the major components. Overall, 45, 74, and 67 components were identified from the ethyl acetate, methanol, and water extracts, respectively. The EO and extracts showed significant antioxidant properties, in a cell-free model; particularly, methanol and water extracts revealed promising sources of antioxidant compounds. Additionally, we evaluated protective effects of EO and extracts in isolated rat colon tissue challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), as an ex vivo model of colon inflammation, and human colon cancer HCT116 cell line. Particularly, we observed that, among all tested samples, A. santonicum ethyl acetate displayed the best pharmacological profile, being able to blunt LPS-induced levels of all tested biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress, including colon nitrites, lactate dehydrogenase, prostaglandin E2, and serotonin. Additionally, this extract was also able to reduce HCT116 cell viability, thus suggesting potential antiproliferative effects against colon cancer cells. Based on our results, A. santonicum has great potential for developing novel functional agents including pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals, and nutraceuticals.

Highlights

The genus Artemisia is one of the most important genera in Asteraceae family, comprising about 500 species [1]
The essential oil from the aerial parts of Artemisia santonicum was analyzed by GC–MS and the results are shown in Table 1 and Supplementary Figure S1
Previous investigations showed that these oxygenated monoterpenes, camphor and 1,8 cineole are major characteristic components of Artemisia species [18,32,33,34,35]

Summary

Introduction

The genus Artemisia is one of the most important genera in Asteraceae family, comprising about 500 species [1]. Several Artemisia species have been traditionally used in wide plethora of inflammatory and infectious diseases [5,6]. Phytochemical investigations revealed the occurrence of flavonoids [7,8], coumarins [9,10], polysaccharides [11], sterols [12], terpenoids [13,14], and essential oils [15]. The strong and aromatic smell of some species of Artemisia genus is due mainly to the presence of volatile terpenes in high concentrations, as components of their essential oils, especially in leaves and flowers [1,16]. One of the most important drugs derived from this genus is artemisinin, the antimalarial isolated from

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