Antioxidant, cytotoxicity, and antiophidian potential of Alstonia macrophylla bark

• Main Authors: Tan, Maria Carmen S., Carranza, Mary Stephanie S., Linis, Virgilio C., Malabed, Raymond S., Oyong, Glenn G.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Alstonia—Therapeutic use—Philippines; Chemistry
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/167; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/faculty_research/article/1166/type/native/viewcontent/acsomega.9b00082
• Institution: De La Salle University

The objective of this research was to find the possible pharmacognosy of the bark of the Philippine Alstonia macrophylla Wall. ex G.Don (AM). Gas chromatographic-mass spectral (GC-EI-MS) characterization and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were performed to detect the bioactive constituents. EDX analysis of AM bark displayed a high content of potassium (3.26%) and calcium (2.96%). Eight constituents were detected in AM crude dichloromethane (DCM) extracts, which consisted of a long-chain unsaturated fatty acid (17:0) and fatty acid esters such as ethyl hexadecanoate and methyl hexadecanoate. Extraction of AM bark using methanol and dimethyl sulfoxide (MeOH/DMSO) solvents resulted in the identification of 17 constituents, principally alkaloids (alstonerine, 34.38%; strictamin, 5.23%; rauvomitin, 4.29%; and brucine, 3.66%) and triterpenoids (γ-sitosterol, 3.85%; lupeol, 3.00%; 24-methylenecycloartanol, 2.81%; campesterol, 2.71%; β-amyrin, 2.30%; and stigmasterol, 2.13%). MeOH/DMSO samples of AM were used in the selected bioassays. The samples exhibited efficient free radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 0.71 mg/mL) and were noncytotoxic to normal HDFn (IC50 > 100 μg/mL) and neoplastic THP-1 cell lines (IC50 = 67.22 μg/mL) while highly degenerative to MCF-7 (IC50 = 6.34 μg/mL), H69PR (IC50 = 7.05 μg/mL), and HT-29 (IC50 = 9.10 μg/mL). Most interestingly, the AM samples inhibited the northern Philippine Cobra's (Naja philippinensis Taylor) venom (IC50 = 297.27 ± 9.33 μg/mL) through a secretory phospholipase A2 assay.