Grape leaves influence several biological activities in the cardiovascular system, acting as antioxidants. In this study, we aimed at evaluating the effect of ethanolic and water extracts from grape leaves grown in Algeria, obtained by accelerator solvent extraction (ASE), on cell proliferation. The amount of total phenols was determined using the modified Folin-Ciocalteu method, antioxidant activities were evaluated by the 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl free radical (DPPH*) method and ·OH radical scavenging using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy methods. Cell proliferation of HepG2 hepatocarcinoma, MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and vein human umbilical (HUVEC) cells, as control for normal cell growth, was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction assay (MTT). Apoptosis- related genes were determined by measuring Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA expression levels. Accelerator solvent extractor yield did not show significant difference between the two solvents (ethanol and water) (p > 0.05). Total phenolic content of water and ethanolic extracts was 55.41 ± 0.11 and 155.73 ± 1.20 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of dry weight, respectively. Ethanolic extracts showed larger amounts of total phenols as compared to water extracts and interesting antioxidant activity. HepG2 and MCF-7 cell proliferation decreased with increasing concentration of extracts (0.5, 1, and 2 mg/mL) added to the culture during a period of 1–72 h. In addition, the expression of the pro-apoptotic gene Bax was increased and that of the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2 was decreased in a dose-dependent manner, when both MCF-7 and HepG2 cells were cultured with one of the two extracts for 72 h. None of the extracts elicited toxic effects on vein umbilical HUVEC cells, highlighting the high specificity of the antiproliferative effect, targeting only cancer cells. Finally, our results suggested that ASE crude extract from grape leaves represents a source of bioactive compounds such as phenols, with potential antioxidants activity, disclosing a novel antiproliferative effect affecting only HepG2 and MCF-7 tumor cells.

This study aimed to estimated total phenol, the antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of crude extract derived from grape leaves (Vitis vinifera. L.). Total phenol of grape leaves (Vitis vinifera. L.) was extracted using aqueous and methanol solvent and dosed with Folin-Ciocalteu using spectrophotometry. The antioxidant activity was estimated by spectrophotometry in the existence of the DPPH radical, when the antiproliferative activity was evaluated by using MTT test on two melanoma cells (A375 and SK-MEL) as compared to the effect of Cisplatinum. Results showed that extracts of grape leaves (Vitis vinifera. L.)  were rich in total phenols. Indeed, the extracts exhibited an antioxidant activity, when 1.98 mg/mL of methanol and aqueous crude extracts could inhibit 90.20 % and 77.78 % of DPPH* radical respectively. The proliferation of Melanoma cells A375 and SK-MEL is decreased with increasing concentration of water and methanolic extracts (1.136, 2.27, and 4.54 mg/mL) included in the culture throughout 72 h. Results offered that extract from grape leaves (Vitis vinifera. L.) characterize with biological effect compounds such as phenols, with promise antioxidant activity, revealing an antiproliferative effect impact on A375 and SK-MEL malignant tumor cells compete with the synthetic molecule Cisplatinium.