IN VITRO VALIDATION OF BIOLOGICAL AND CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF METHANOL EXTRACT OF JORDANIAN ARTEMISIA HERBA-ALBA L.

Abstract

Artemisia herba-alba L. (A. herba-alba), growing in the Mediterranean regions, contains various phytochemical compounds with exceptional pharmacological and chemical properties. The present study aims to characterize chemical and biological activities of A. herba-alba’s methanolic extract according to total protein, total phenols, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemolytic activities. The study also evaluates the extract’s anti-proliferative activity of diverse cancer cell lines in vitro. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used to conduct phytochemical analysis of A. herba-alba’s extract. The total phenolic amount, total proteins, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemolytic activity was evaluated in vitro alongside antioxidant activity by various spectrophotometric methods. LC-MS analysis of crude extract reveals that kaempferol, quercetin, geranyl acetate, dihydrolinalool, furanone, vetivenic acid, limonene, eugenol, p-cymene, and naringin represent the major composition (81.5%). A. herba-alba’s extract showed 72.07 % antioxidant activity through DPPH radical scavenging with IC50 value 0.67 µg/ml. Furthermore, the extract from A. herba-alba had a 68.71% anti-hemolytic impact and a 97.55% anti-inflammatory effect. These different bioactivities were linked and correlated to the total phenolic content in the extract (1.41 mg/ml). The correlation between phenolic contents and activity of DPPH scavenging, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemolytic was expressed with Pearson correlation coefficient and found to be a strong correlation of the extract with R2 close to 0.90. Furthermore, strong cytotoxic activity was shown by the extract against tested cancer cell lines. The IC50 values for lung cancer HCC95 was 7.0 µg/mL, breast cancer MDA-MB-231 was 6.9 µg/mL, prostate DU-145 was 6.8 µg/mL, and breast cancer 600MPE was 6.7 µg/mL. According to the research, the methanolic extract of A. herba-alba plant contains numerous phytochemicals, primarily phenolic compounds. The extract exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemolytic activities, as well as strong cytotoxic activity.