Cytotoxic and Antioxidant potential of Tripogandra serrulata Ethanolic extract (Vahl) Handlos

The Tripogandra serrulata species belongs to the Commelinaceae family, which is characterized by containing plants with a diversity of biological and pharmacological activities. This species is present in the Colombian Orinoquía and its leaves and stems are popularly used because they are attributed some medicinal properties, for example anti-inflammatory activity. This research main objective was to test the antioxidant and cytotoxic potential of the ethanolic extract (EE) and some fractions (dichloromethane, n-butanol and water) obtained from the T. serrulata species leaves and stems. The EE underwent preliminary chemical analysis, and its antioxidant potential was evaluated with the DPPH and ABTS methods, and the total phenol concentration was calculated using the Folin-Ciocalteu method and the total flavonoid concentration using the AlCl3 method. The extract and fractions were subjected to cytotoxicity testing using the MTT colorimetric technique on cancer cell lines HeLa, MCF7, A549 and on fibroblasts. In the EE and some fractions, the presence of reducing sugars, aglycones, cardiotonic glycosides, steroidal compounds, saponins, phenolic compounds, as well as the absence or very low concentration of other types of secondary metabolites were determined. The IC50 values of the EE extract against DPPH and ABTS were 28.98μg/ml and 19.25μg/ml, respectively. A total phenol content of 49.0mg AGE/g excerpt and a low total flavonoid concentration of 2.0mg QE/g extract were determined. In cell viability assays, EE, n-butanol and aqueous fractions showed low or no toxicity in almost all cell lines analyzed under the experimental conditions. EE showed an IC50 of 136.9μg/ml against HeLa cells indicating low cytotoxicity; therefore safe, against fibroblasts. The dichloromethane fraction showed moderate to high cytotoxicity towards tumor cells and fibroblasts. These results allow us to consider the T. serrulata species as a constituent source with excellent antioxidant properties and promising cytotoxic activity, and represent the first bibliographic record of this type of studies for this species belonging to the Commelinaceae family collected in the Colombian Orinoquia region.