Anti-cancer potential of hydroethanolic extracts of Kyllinga nemoralis: An in vitro and in-silico studies

Abstract

Introduction

This study aims to investigate the antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties of Kalinga nemoralis to regulate the production and application of herbal preparations.

Method

The leaves, roots and the whole plant extracts of Kyllinga nemoralis (KNL, KNR and KNW) were evaluated for antioxidant capacity, flavonoid content (TFC), phenolic content (TPC), in vitro cytotoxicity using Folin-Ciocalteu, Aluminium Chloride colorimetric methods and DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and FRAP assays respectively. LC-MS chemical profile was obtained by Agilent HPLC system.

The results obtained showed that, KNL extracts shown the highest TFC (16421.33 ± 0.06 mg QE/g) followed by KNW (10531 ± 0.02 mg QE/g) and KNR extracts (4741 ± 0.04 mg QE/g) with TFC/TPC ratio of 65.03, 58.50 and 23.75 respectively. The EC₅₀ values of both DPPH and FRAP assays for the extracts ranged from 0.033 ± 0.07–4.10 ± 0.67 mg/mL. KNL and KNR had the strongest ferric reducing activity (EC₅₀ values of 0.88 ± 0.20 mg/mL and 1.52 ± 0.36 mg/mL) while KNW had the least DPPH radical scavenging activity (2.48 ± 0.35 µg/mL). The IC₅₀ value for each extract was greater than 1000 µg/mL, indicating minimal cytotoxicity against PNT2 cell line. KNR and KNW exhibited the strongest inhibitory activity against the PC3 cell line with an IC₅₀ values of 52.65 ± 1.11 and 53.20 ± 0.80 µg/mL respectively. KNL exhibited a good inhibitory activity against the cancer cell line with an IC₅₀ value of 68.54 ± 9.99. The selectivity indices of extracts were greater than 2. LC-MS profile showed four primary peaks representing combined plant constituents, with 12 recognized compounds and five undetermined compounds.

Conclusion

Kyllinga nemoralis demonstrates antioxidant activity and antiproliferative effects against PC3 cell lines, attributed to its bioactive compounds. Among these, Flufenacet, Diazoxide, and N-(2-Hydroxyphenyl)piperazine exhibited the highest drug-likeness scores with significant bioactivity.