Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, and Anticancer Effect of Ruta chalepensis’s Extracts against Human Leukemic Cells

Abstract

Ruta chalepensis is a native herb of the Mediterranean region used in the traditional medicine of many countries. Phytochemical screening has shown the presence of bioactive molecules that are responsible for its pharmacological properties. The present study aimed at investigating the in vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic effect of volatile, ethanol and aqueous extracts of R. chalepensis collected from Bejaia, a region in Algeria. The phenolic compounds composition of the extracts was analyzed by HPLC-UV (High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV detector) and the essential oil composition was analyzed by GC–MS (Hewlett Packard 5973-6890 GC-MS system) analysis. The antioxidant activity was assessed by the scavenging activity of DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and the cytotoxic effect of MTT assay against cancerous cells (T-leukemic cells and B lymphoblasts) and normal blood cells (PBLs: stimuled peripheral blood cells by PHA/IL2). Ethanol extract of R. chalepensis presented the highest amount of total phenolics (72 08 ± 1.94 mg GAE/g DW (Milligrammes of Galic Acid per Grammes of Dry Weight), flavonoids (31.90 ± 2.12 mg QE/g DW (Milligrammes of Quercetin Equivalent per Grammes of DryWeight), and flavonols (13.22 ± 0.86 mg QE/g DW) compared to the aqueous extract, which presented a total phenolics of 39.71 ± 0.22 mg GAE/g DW, flavonoids of 1.96 ± 0.12 mg QE/g DW, and flavonols of 3.00 ± 0.2586 mg QE/g DW. Ethanol extract also showed a potent antioxidant activity (IC50= 51.18 ± 1, 14 μg/ml) and a high reducing power (IC50 = 660 ± 8, 3 μg/ml). Moreover, we establish herein that ethanol extract exerts a strong cytotoxicity against T-leukemic cells (CEM, H9, Jurkat, and CEM-IRCs) and B lymphoblast cells (SKW 6.4) without affecting normal blood cells (PBL and PBLs).This study showed that Ruta chalepensis can be used as promising source of natural antioxidant and anticancer agents. The encouraging results obtained on anticancer activity suggest further investigations can be undertaken to isolate the bioactive phenolic compounds and to understand their mechanism of cytotoxicity.