Abstract
Artemisia species are used worldwide for their antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. This research was designed to investigate the phytochemical profile of two ethanolic extracts obtained from leaves and stems of A. absinthium L. as well as the biological potential (antioxidant activity, cytotoxic, anti-migratory and anti-inflammatory properties). Both plant materials showed quite similar thermogravimetric, FT-IR phenolic profile (high chlorogenic acid) with mild antioxidant capacity [ascorbic acid (0.02–0.1) > leaves (0.1–2.0) > stem (0.1–2.0)]. Alcoholic extracts from these plant materials showed a cytotoxic effect against A375 (melanoma) and MCF7 (breast adenocarcinoma) and affected less the non-malignant HaCaT cells (human keratinocytes) at 72 h post-stimulation and this same trend was observed in the anti-migratory (A375, MCF7 > HaCat) assay. Lastly, extracts ameliorated the pro-inflammatory effect of TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate) in mice ears, characterized by a diffuse neutrophil distribution with no exocytosis or micro-abscesses.
Highlights
Common wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L., Asteraceae) is a woody-based perennial herb which grows widely in dry, sunny regions of Eurasia, Northern Africa, North and South America [1]
Both ethanolic extracts, obtained from leaves and stems of wormwood were characterized by thermal analysis (TG-DSC) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR)
The wormwood leaves extract loses 66.30% of the total mass and an endothermic process which can be noticed with a maximum at
Summary
Common wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L., Asteraceae) is a woody-based perennial herb which grows widely in dry, sunny regions of Eurasia, Northern Africa, North and South America [1]. It may Molecules 2019, 24, 3087; doi:10.3390/molecules24173087 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules. From a biochemical point of view, wormwood stands out due to the synthesis of bitter-tasting metabolites and essential oils [2]. Several chemotypes of volatile oils are known from different parts of the world according to the main constituent: α-and β-thujone, cis-epoxyocimene, trans-sabinyl acetate and chrysanthenyl acetate [6]. Other secondary metabolites in wormwood include flavonoids (myricetin, quercetin, rutin, hesperidin), hydroxybenzoic acids (salicylic acid, gallic acid), hydroxycinnamic acids (caffeic acids, coumaric acids, ferulic acid), resveratrol, and other [7]
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