Cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of four different extracts of Galega officinalis L (Goat's rue)

Purpose: To evaluate the cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of four different solvent extracts obtained from the aerial parts of Galega officinalis L. Methods: The hexane, DCM, methanol and water extracts of G. officinalis were successively obtained by soxhlet extraction method. The cytotoxic activity of the extracts was assessed against human lung carcinoma (A-549), human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29), human brain glioblastoma (U-87), and colon adenocarcinoma (DLD-1) by Resazurine test. The antioxidant activity of extracts were determined by Folin-Ciocalteau, oxygen radical absorbing capacity (ORAC), and 2'.7'-dichlorofluorescin-diacetate (DCFH-DA) cell-based assay while their anti-inflammatory activity was determined by nitric oxide (NO) assay. Results: DCM extract showed strong cytotoxic activity against lung adenocarcinoma and brain glioblastoma cell lines, with IC50 (concentration inhibiting 50 % of cell growth) values of 11 +/- 0.4 and 16 +/- 3 mu g/mL, respectively. The hexane extract showed moderate anticancer activity against the same cell lines (59 +/- 13 and 63 +/- 16 mu g/mL, respectively). DCM extract also showed significant anti-inflammatory activity, inhibiting NO release by 86.7 % at 40 mu g/mL in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) - stimulated murine RAW 264.7 macrophages. Of all test extracts, the methanol extract of G. officinalis showed the highest antioxidant activity with 2.33 +/- 0.09 mu mol Trolox/mg, 7.10 +/- 0.9 g tannic acid equivalent (TAE), and IC50 of 44 +/- 4 mu g/mL. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that DCM extract may possess anticancer effect against lung adenocarcinoma and brain glioblastoma, as well as serve as an anti-inflammatory agent.