Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Potential of Helminthosporin from Rumex abyssiniscus Jacq. Discovered as a Novel Source of Syringic Acid and Bis(2-ethyloctyl) Phthalate

• Published in: Current microbiology Vol. 80; no. 1; p. 7
• Main Authors: Ntemafack, Augustin, Qayum, Arem, Dhiman, Shakti Kumar, Guefack, Michel-Gael Fofack, Thapa, Sonia, Wamba, Brice Elvis Nougan, Kuete, Victor, Singh, Shashank K., Bharate, Sandip B., Hassan, Qazi Parvaiz, Gandhi, Sumit G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anti-Infective Agents - pharmacology; Antibiotics; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Bacteria; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Cancer; Cell walls; Chloramphenicol; Chloromycetin; Chromatography; Column chromatography; Cytotoxicity; DNA fragmentation; Drug development; Drug resistance; Fractions; Genomes; Herbal medicine; Life Sciences; Medicinal plants; Microbiology; Minimum inhibitory concentration; Multidrug resistance; Phthalates; Rumex; Thin layer chromatography; Toxicity; Tumor cell lines; Yeasts
• DOI: 10.1007/s00284-022-03101-2
• ISSN: 0343-8651

Rumex abyssinicus Jacq. is a perennial medicinal herb widely used in traditional medicine to treat many diseases. Phytochemicals of the plant were isolated using column chromatography and thin layer chromatography techniques. Extract, fractions and pure compounds were screened for antimicrobial activity against sensitive and multi-drug resistant microbes and their cytotoxicity was performed on different cancer cell lines. The mechanism of action of purified helminthosporin as well as the potent fraction containing a mixture of two compounds was assessed. Fraction R7C3 was the most potent antibacterial with the lowest MIC value of 0.12 µg/mL. Helminthosporin was the most potent compound with the lowest MIC value of 1.95 µg/mL. The compound was more potent than the antibiotic chloramphenicol against multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria with MIC equal to 16 µg/mL. The fraction and helminthosporin were shown to destroy the cell wall of the yeast and bacteria, and DNA fragmentation effect on the genome of Candida albicans and Bacillus cereus . Helminthosporin was the most cytotoxic compound with IC 50  ˂ 10 µM. Fraction R7C3 showed the most potent cytotoxic effects on all cancer cell lines, with IC 50 ranging from ˂1 to 4.35 ng/mL. Our study is the first report on the mechanism of action of helminthosporin, a potent candidate in the development of new drugs against multi-resistant bacteria and cancer cells. In addition, this study uncovered Rumex abyssinicus as a new source of syringic acid and bis(2-ethyloctyl) phthalate.