Cytotoxicity and in vitro antioxidant potential of Quercus Brantii acorn extract and the corresponding fractions

Abstract

The present study was mainly aimed to evaluate antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of hydroalcoholic extract and three corresponding fractions of Quercus brantii acorn. A 70% ethyle alcohole extract of the plant were prepared and sequentially partitioned with n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate and n-butanol. The antioxidant potential of all these fractions was evaluated by the 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity method. Cytotoxic activity was tested against two normal cell lines (African green monkey kidney [Vero] and human dermal fibroblasts [HDFs]) by MTT assay. The results revealed that the n-butanol fraction exhibited the lowest IC50value (6.5±0.6 μg/ml) with the highest antioxidant activity as compared to the other fractions. The IC50values of the chloroform fraction, the n-butanol fraction, the crude extract, and the n-hexane fraction were found to be significant (p<0.05) as compared with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The results of cytotoxicity showed that the chloroform fraction exhibited the highest cytotoxicity toward Vero and HDFs cell lines at concentration of 60.6±23 and 287.8±38 μg/ml, respectively. We conclude that at least, n-butanol fraction of this plant with high phytoconstituents and less toxicity could be a promising source of medicinally important natural compound. Our findings, therefore, suggest that overall the studied extract/fractions exhibit low cytotoxicity on normal cell lines. © 2016, International Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemical Research. All Rights reserved