In vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius leaf fractions from Thailand

Abstract

Cnidoscolus aconitifolius is a widely consumed vegetable that has potential bioactive compounds to attenuate several complex diseases, including cancer and diabetes. This study aimed to evaluate bioactivity of different polarity C. aconitifolius fractions, including antioxidant, α-glucosidase inhibition, and cytotoxicity on colorectal cancer cell lines. C. aconitifolius leaves were macerated with methanol and then partitioned with n-hexane and ethyl acetate, respectively, to obtain three different polarity fractions; n-hexane (HF), ethyl acetate (EF), and methanol (MF) fractions, which were low, medium, and high polarity fractions, respectively. The fractions were examined for antioxidant activities , antidiabetic activity, colorectal cancer cytotoxicity activities against HCT116 and SW620 cell lines ], and phytochemicals. The antioxidant evaluation using the DPPH reagent indicated that the EF had the greatest scavenging ability, while the MF  had the highest result against the ABTS reagent. The α- glucosidase inhibition assay using maltose substrate revealed EF had the strongest inhibitory activity, and MF had the best result with sucrose substrate. The HF inhibited HCT116 cell line development the most, whereas the EF effectively reduced SW620 cell line growth. Meanwhile, the MF had no effect against both cell lines. HF, EF and MF were analyzed for the compounds’ content and found varied compounds, which should be further purified for bioactive compounds. Different polarity fractions of C. aconitifolius leaf showed distinct bioactivities. The characteristic of therapeutic drug discovery for cancer and diabetes diseases can be concerned with the selectable polarity of solvents.