Anticancer and Antioxidant Activities of Aqueous and Ethanolic Bark Extracts of Acer Tegmentosum Maxim (Aceaceae) on Tumor Cell Lines.

The medicinal plant of Acer tegmentosum Maxim is traditionally used in the southern part of Asia to treat oxidative stress-related diseases, including cancer, diabetes mellitus, wounds, infections, etc. Based on this, the current study was designed to investigate the phytochemical analysis, antioxidants and anti-cancer activities of Acer tegmentosum Maxim (AT). The total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), free radicals scavenging (DPPH and ABTS), chemical constituents as well as cytotoxicity potential ATWE (Acer tegmentosum Maxim water extracts) and ATEE (Acer tegmentosum Maxim ethanolic extracts) were tested. The cytotoxic efficacy ATWE and ATEE were studied in Human embryonic kidney 293 cells (HEK 293), human lung cancer cell lines (A549), prostate cancer cells (PC3) and breast cancer cells (MDA-MB 231). The results revealed that, TPC ranged between in 199.97 ± 0.09 mg GAR/g extract in ATWE and 103.48 ± 0.82 mg GAR/g extract in ATEE, TFC were 72.10 ± 0.07 mg RE/g extract in ATWE, and 47.28 ± 0.55 mg RE/g extract in ATEE. Aside it showed a promising antioxidant scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS radicals. The antioxidant capacity of the two extracts increased in a dose-dependent manner. ATEE and ATWE had little difference in the scavenging rate of DPPH free radicals, and its radical scavenging activity were reached about 70% at 1000 μg/mL. ATWE had significant cytotoxicity to all the tested cancer cell lines of A549, PC3, and MDA-MB 231. The anti-cancer activity of ATWE was better than ATEE, and the IC50 value for A549 cells, PC3 cells, and MDA-MB cells were 96.32 ± 5.96, 198.58 ± 10.35 and 365.27 ± 19.72 μg/mL, respectively. The fluorescent staining (AO/EB, PI, Rh123, ROS) studies explored that ATWE could target the cancer cell via nuclear damage, excessive production of ROS and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, suggesting that activation of endogenous apoptosis pathways. These results proved that AT extracts (especially ATWE) had significant antioxidants and anti-cancer activities, implying a possible pharmacological application of AT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]