The Study of Antioxidant and Cellular Toxicity Effects of Methanol, Ethyl Acetate, Aqueous and n-Hexane Extracts of Symphytum Kurdicum Plant

This study was aimed to investigating the antioxidant and cellular toxicity of Symphytum kurdicum. The methanolic extracts of the aerial parts of the plant were prepared through soaking and non-polar to polar cutting of the extract by the liquid-liquid cutting method. The antioxidant effect of the samples was specified by the methods of determining the free radical scanenging 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH), ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) and the total phenolic content by folin ciocalteu method. Cellular toxicity of the samples on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was performed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) and 2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). The results indicated that ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions with IC50 equal to 33.67 and 29.43 μg/ml, respectively, showed the highest ability in DPPH free radicals Scavenging. Moreover, in the study of ferric iron regeneration, the ethyl acetate fraction with a capability of 280.985± 14.007 mM/mg dry weight of sample showed the best regenerative effect against trolox control. The aqueous and ethyl acetate fractions had the highest total phenolic content with 150.765 ± 0.035 and 130.570 ± 0.056 (Gallic acid milligrams/ gram dry weight of sample), respectively. The results of MTT test revealed that all fractions at a concentration much higher than the effective antioxidant concentrations lacked cellular toxicity, too. Given the role of oxidative stress as a predisposing factor in diseases like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease, aqueous and ethyl acetate fractions are likely to be introduced as pharmacological supplements.