Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jul 10;9(29):31508-31520.
doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c01096. eCollection 2024 Jul 23.

Antibacterial and Cytotoxicity of Extracts and Isolated Compounds from Artemisia abyssinica: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study

Affiliations

Antibacterial and Cytotoxicity of Extracts and Isolated Compounds from Artemisia abyssinica: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study

Dawit Tesfaye et al. ACS Omega. .

Abstract

Artemisia abyssinica is a widely cultivated hedge plant in Ethiopia. Traditionally, they have been used to treat a variety of health conditions, including intestinal problems, infectious diseases, tonsillitis, and leishmaniasis. Silica gel chromatographic separation of the methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of the leaves, roots, and stem barks of A. abyssinica led to the isolation of 12 compounds, labeled as 1-12. Among these, compounds 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7-11 are reported as new to the genus Artemisia. The extracts and isolated compounds from A. abyssinica were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against four bacterial strains: Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli, using the disc diffusion assay. All of the extracts displayed weak antibacterial activity, with inhibition zone diameters (IZDs) ranging from 6.10 ± 0.3 to 9.30 ± 0.20 mm. The isolated compounds, on the other hand, exhibited weak to moderate antibacterial activity, with IZDs ranging from 6.00 ± 0.300 to 13.50 ± 0.50 mm. The most potent antibacterial activity was observed for compound 6, which showed an IZD of 13.30 ± 0.50 mm against E. coli and 13.50 ± 0.50 mm against P. aeruginosa. This activity was comparable to that of the positive control ceftriaxone, which had IZDs of 14.1 ± 0.3 and 13.8 ± 0.5 mm against E. coli and P. aeruginosa, respectively. The in silico molecular docking analysis against DNA gyrase B revealed that compound 5 showed a higher binding affinity (-6.9 kcal/mol), followed by compound 10 (-6.7 kcal/mol) and compound 12 (-6.3 kcal/mol), whereas ciprofloxacin showed -7.3 kcal/mol. The binding affinities of compounds 5, 11, 10, and 9 were found to be -5.0, -4.3, -4.2, and -4.0 kcal/mol against S. aureus Pyruvate kinase, respectively, whereas ciprofloxacin showed a binding affinity of -4.9 kcal/mol, suggesting that compound 5 had a better binding affinity compared with ciprofloxacin. The effect of extracts of A. abyssinica was evaluated for cytotoxic activity against the breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) by the MTT assay. The extracts induced a decrease in cell viability and exerted a cytotoxic effect at a concentration of 20 μg/mL. The highest percent cell viability was observed for the methanol extract of the stem (92.9%), whereas the least was observed for the methanol extract of the root (34.5%). The result of the latter was significant compared with the positive control. The binding affinities of the isolated compounds were also assessed against human topoisomerase inhibitors IIβ. Results showed that compound 5 showed a binding affinity of -6.0 kcal/mol, followed by 11 (-5.4 kcal/mol), 10 (-5.0 kcal/mol), and 11 (-4.9 kcal/mol). Similar to ciprofloxacin, compounds 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 12 comply with Lipinski's rule of five. Overall, the comprehensive investigation of the chemical constituents and their biological activities reinforces the traditional medicinal applications of A. abyssinica and warrants further exploration of this plant as a source of novel therapeutic agents.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Compounds isolated from Artemisia abyssinica.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cell viability test for the A. abyssinica extract. CAAL hexane: A. abyssinicca leaves hexane extract; CAAL methanol: A. abyssinicca leaves methanol extract; CAAR methanol: A. abyssinicca root methanol extract; CAAR ethyl acetate: A. abyssinicca root ethyl acetate extract; CAAS hexane: A. abyssinicca stem hexane extract; CAAS ethyl acetate: A. abyssinicca stem ethyl acetate extract; and CAAS methanol: A. abyssinicca stem methanol extract.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Boiled-egg model for predicting GIT absorption and brain access.

References

    1. Rustaiyan A.; Masoudi S. Chemical Constituents and Biological Activities of Iranian Artemisia species. Phytochem. Lett. 2011, 4, 440–447. 10.1016/j.phytol.2011.07.003. - DOI
    1. Alesaeidi S.; Miraj S. A Systematic Review of Anti-Malarial Properties, Immunosuppressive Properties, Anti-Inflammatory Properties, and Anti-Cancer Properties of Artemisia Annua. Electron. Physician 2016, 8, 3150–3155. 10.19082/3150. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vallès J.; Garcia S.; Hidalgo O.; Martín J.; Pellicer J.; Sanz M.; Garnatje T. Biology, Genome Evolution, Biotechnological Issues and Research Including Applied Perspectives in Artemisia (Asteraceae). Adv. Bot. Res. 2011, 60, 349.10.1016/b978-0-12-385851-1.00015-9. - DOI
    1. Ayenew K. D.; Ayalew A.; Wondmkun Y. T.; Tsige A. W.; Wolde A.; Sewale Y.; Belihu G. D.; Fekade E.; Habteweld H. A. In vivo Immunomodulatory Activities of Essential Oils of Artemisia abyssinica and Lepidium sativum in Mice. ImmunoTargets Ther. 2024, 13, 15–27. 10.2147/ITT.S448317. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abdu N.; Alebachew Y. Diuretic Activity of the Hydroalcoholic Extracts of Rhizomes and Leaves of Artemisia abyssinica Sch. Bip. ex A. Rich: In silico and in vivo Study. Scr. Med. 2024, 55 (1), 63–70. 10.5937/scriptamed55-47971. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources